The Negative Portrayal Of Women In Arabian Nights And Its Effect On The Perception of Arabic Women (First Draft)

In The Arabian Nights, there are a limited number of female characters, and the portrayal of women is depicted in a negative light. The women in the tales are overly sexualized and painted as deceitful, vicious, and conniving. The novel, Arabian Night has essentially been one of the main causes for the misrepresentation and the enablement of stereotypes of the Arabic Community .Due to the negative portrayals and stereotypes of women in Arabian Nights, a film like Disney’s Aladdin (1992) has portrayed Arabic women in a hypersexualized way. Could the translation of The Arabian Nights by the French have caused the hyper sexualization of Arabian women in western media and created stereotypes that cause the negative portrayal of Arabic women? Or could it be the west’s inability to translate accurately which has led to a cycle of misrepresentation and misunderstandings?

At the very beginning of the Arabian Nights, we are introduced to King Shahryar, who finds his wife cheating on him with a kitchen boy. Once he discovers his wife’s infidelity, he says, “No. Women are not to be trusted.” (Hemingway, Arabian Nights) As he is filled with rage, he murders his wife and her lover. In addition, when he goes to visit his brother, he also shares how his wife cheated on him, along with ten slaves who were dressed as women. The novel paints the king’s brother’s wife as a woman who is lustful and deceitful. In addition to this, the water woman is depicted as lustful and deceitful. The vizier tells Shahrazad the story of the merchant and his wife and explains that he will beat her if she doesn’t listen to him. There is a concurrent theme of violence against women throughout the novel, and it is deemed acceptable by the men of the novel. Another example of the constant sexualization of women in the novel is the story of the porter and the three sisters. In this tale, the porter is intrigued and allured by a beautiful woman, and she takes him to her mansion, where she has three sisters. The man is hypnotized by their beauty and lusts over their beauty. He spends the day sexualizing the women and drinking with the women. The women are seen as alluring and their secrecy leads to the intrigue of the three men almost causing their deaths. In stark contrast, Shahrazad isn’t overly sexualized in comparison. She is written and described as cunning, and bright. As a reader one asks, the question: why are all the other female characters beside Shahrazad hyper sexualized. Throughout the novel, Women are written to be the downfall and the cause of all men’s problems.

In the Disney film Aladdin, the women in the film are depicted inaccurately and erotically. In “One Jump Ahead,”, Aladdin escapes into a brothel where Arabic women are dressed in two-piece outfits with their midriffs showing, which paints an inaccurate picture of what Arab women wear. Later on, in a song, a woman who is less thin than the other women and has a gap in her teeth opens the door, grabs Aladdin, and says, “Still, I think he’s rather tasty” in a screechy voice. Whereas the women from the Brothel seem to have a fangirl and siren-eques tone, almost as if they are to allure you. The commonality between these representations is that both of these women seem to fawn over Aladdin. Despite Jasmine being a princess, her outfit is extremely similar to the women at the brothel; the only difference is that she isn’t wearing a tunic to cover her mouth. When Jafar gains control, her outfit becomes even more sexualized and she is ultimately seen as a prize for Jafar. Due to the film’s impact on the western hemisphere, those who haven’t had the chance to discover and learn about Arabic culture or even shown signs of interest in it believe that these stereotypes are factual and that these oversexualized outfits are a part of the Arabic woman’s everyday life.

Could the reason for the mass hyper sexualization of Arabic women be a result of who these tales were told by and made for? In addition to this, in order to understand what has caused the prominence of the inaccuracy in the representation of Arabic women, we must understand that the tales inside the Arabian nights were created as a form to tell and teach moral lessons as well as a bedtime Storytime. If we think about who was able to read during the creation of the tales that make up the stories, we realize that men are those who have the privilege to read and write, whereas women are less likely to possess these skills. Due to the patriarchal aspect of the world, stories weren’t catered to women; instead, they were catered to men. The existence of these tales, in which women are depicted negatively and are overly sexualized, further showcases the patriarchal aspect of the writings. The negative portrayal and hyper sexualization are further introduced to the west due to Jean Antoine’s (French) translation, which creates a wave of “orientalism”. Habitants of the west were filled with an obsession to learn about the orient. According to Ernest, “In the nineteenth century, French Orientalist painters created luxuriant depictions of seductive harem life, using European prostitutes as nude models.” The French enabled and romanticized the over sexualization of Arabic women. Due to “orientalism” spreading like wildfire, by the end of the century, the west had been mal influenced by these inaccurate depictions of Arabic women. This inaccurate translation of these tales have been the catalyst for the misrepresentation of Arabic Women and the spreading of these negative stereotypes.

The novel Arabian Nights, whether due to its inaccurate European translation or its very origin, isn’t made for Arabic women. The novel characters are oversexualized and seen as the root of men’s troubles. The text itself highlights the use of patriarchy and the effects of patriarchy. Although there are what we call the beginnings of a strong female character, Shahrazad, she is the only one who isn’t overly sexualized. Although there is an absence of hyper sexualization, she is written as cunning, making her deceitful to the king. Overall, the theme of the novel is that women are rebellious and can be dangerous. This novel, being one of the main pieces the West uses to inspire their stories of “orientalism,” causes the furtherment of stereotypes and negative portrayals of women. Disney’s Aladdin (1992) presents the effects of the French’s romanticism towards oversexualization in “Oriental Tales.” Whether it is the effects of the interpretation, inaccurate translations, or the text itself, the tale portrays Arabic women negatively and inaccurately.