A classic misrepresentation of how Arabs look today as they are always dressing poor in dirty and sandy streets.

How Exactly did Orientalism Begin and What is it?

Orientalism can most aptly be described as representing the Middle East or North African countries in a very stereotypical way that embodies colonialist attitudes. Western countries have unfortunately racialized Middle Eastern and North African, or MENA, people for centuries now. Its roots can be dated back to early United States colonization during the 1700’s when unwelcome Europeans came in and belittled the Native Americans living there. Settlers all of a sudden gained this conquerors mentality that all people that had a different race or ethnicity from the white Europeans were inferior. The United States began its domination of poorer groups because of their belief in Manifest Destiny where it was a God given right to take over land in North America.

In summary, the orient is the person being belittled and the occident is the person doing the belittling. Orientalism is an easy way for Western cultures to determine a lesser person’s customs, mind, destiny, and beliefs. Orientalism attacks Middle Eastern people in two main capacities. One, it attacks their women and how they are perceived by the western world. And two, the influence of media has impacted how everyday people view these Arab Americans as it makes them appear poor and violent. Movies such as Aladdin do an incredible job influencing the way we see Arab Americans for the worst, and this greatly hurts Arab Americans and their comfortability in our world today. We will dive into further detail on the topics of women and movie influence throughout the rest of this website.