Influence of the western media and culture On Arab Culture
PROMPT: Write an argumentative essay on a theme covered in class discussions and
readings. The essay should be at least 1,000 words long (but not more than
1200 words excluding ref. list) and incorporate evidence from 5 to 8
sources. Follow the guidelines and samples discussed in class and
review relevant material before submission.
Your Argumentative Essay Submission should:
o follow conventions of the genre (structure, thesis statement, counterargument and
refutation,academic language)
o use reliable sources with proper in-text citations in APA style. At least 3 sources
should be academicfrom the library (i.e scholarly journals, books or book chapters,
conference proceedings). Remember that academic sources are strong and will give
you stronger arguments/evidence which will enhance the sophistication of your
paper. If a source is not from the library you must save it and keep it available as I
may ask to check it during grading. It is a good idea to annotate sources so that you
can easily go back and locate the parts that you used.
o include an accurate reference list in APA style (of sources cited in text) at the end of
your paper
Only word document will be accepted.
You cannot use papers that you submitted in other classes. These will be regarded
as a no submission.
Late submissions (no longer than 1 day) will be subject to late penalty.
After 1 day no submissions will be accepted.
Submit carefully. Wait until submission is completed and you see the confirmation.
Incomplete submissions will again be considered as no submissions.
WEIGHTING: 30% of your final grade
Solution
Introduction
In shaping the global public opinion, media is considered to play a powerful role where it
influences on people’s minds and forges facts which in turn affects the people’s culture.
Overtime, the western culture and media which includes televisions, films, and music videos
have controlled the intellectual trends more so in countries that were colonized by western
countries thus building the peoples' cognition. Human behavior is mostly influenced by the mass
media which impact on individuals' behavioral pattern, psychological and environmental factors.
This is an indication that the influence of media in any society goes beyond perception of a
behavioral intention (Enikolopov and Petrova , 2017). Despite the emergence of the
international media channels in the Arab world like the Al Jazeera, the western culture and media
has distorted the image and the culture of the Arabic people. An example of a portrayal of the
Arabic people and Muslims in general by the Western media is after the September 11th terrorist
attacks in the U.S which stereotyped the attack as the work of Arabs and Muslims. It is therefore
evident that exposure to Western culture and media, i.e. films, music videos and songs, have a
negative impact on Arabic people in their harmful influence of immoral values and traditions.
Influence of Immoral Values on Arab People
There are many reasons why the western culture is referred as not principled on values.
As asserted by Olwan (2013), the western culture is generally perceived to be immoral and
corrupt. The Arabic people are notably defensive of their values and traditions with some Arab
countries practicing censorship of media and cultural practices that are deemed to be pervasive.
With the advancement of technology, it is becoming difficult to censor media materials thus the
Arabic people are being influenced negatively by the western culture and media.
Does exposure to Western culture
and media, i.e. films, music videos
and songs, have a negative impact
on Arabic people??
Firstly, the dress code of the Arabic people is modest, where women are supposed to
expose only a small section of the face, but the western media and culture propagates for
obscenity, playing movies and video songs where partial nudity is the order of the day. The
young Arabic people who are most exposed to the internet pick up such culture as an acceptable
form of behavior thus affecting them negatively. Secondly, the western culture promotes
premarital sexual relations where sex before marriage is seen a lifestyle as opposed the Arab
culture which strictly forbids sex before marriage. This has led to the Arab youth adapting to the
western culture where, premarital sex is not rebutted, but is seen as a lifestyle (Trumbach, 1990).
The western culture is sympathetic towards people who practice homosexuality and lesbianism,
where some countries and states have started legalizing marriage between people of the same
sex. This has not gone unnoted by the Arabic people where some rights activists have started
chanting the recognition of homosexuals and lesbianism’s, although this is still being done in
low tones as this practice is strictly prohibited in the Arab world (Kalliny and Gentry, 2007).
Promotion of criticisms of the principles and traditions of the Arab society
The leadership of most of the Arab countries is highly sensitive to civil criticism
especially on any negativity on state national issues and such criticisms are normally ruled out.
However, the exposure of the Arabic local populations to the western culture and media has led
to the criticism narrative that has been unheard off in the Arab world. Firstly, some western
programs in the media criticize the ethics of an Arabic society which creates a narrative of the
Arabic society as being backwards. This has seen some Arabs to take in on some of the western
media habits, leading to disintegration of the Arabic traditional society. Secondly, the western
culture has led to cultural imperialism where imported western songs and movies have less
cultural identity making the Arabic people to start abandoning some of their cultural practices
(Tomlinson, 2012). The third issue that comes with the promotion of criticisms of the principles
and traditions of the Arab society is the promotion of violence. This has led to the famous Arab
revolutions where some governments have been toppled. According to Filiu (2011), the Arab
revolution that began in Egypt was mainly propagated by the social media and brought about a
history in the making in the Arab world which has been treated by the international community
as being unique.
Does the influence of the western media and culture leads to economic liberalization and
societies?
The western media and culture has been credited in some quarters as impacting the
Arabic people positively through societal and economic revolution. According to the pundits of
this argument, the Arabic countries despite having large deposits of oil that they float in the
international markets have little to show in terms of development. Compared to some countries
in the Asian region like Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea that have aped the western
culture leading to the liberation of their economies, and this has been beneficial to their people
(Hafez, 2008). Where else this argument posits the western culture and media as being an
economic and society friendly, this is not true as it is the same western culture and media that has
brought along the Arab spring and revolution that has in turn led to massive loss of life and
property. As asserted by Al Khouli (2018), the western media has actively distorted the image of
the Arabic world international and at the same time developing a negative impact among the
Arabic youths. Thus, it is not right to say that the western media has led to economic
liberalization in the countries that have fully adopted it.
Conclusion
It is evident that the western culture and media has impacted the Arabic people
negatively. The Arabic people are known of strictly adhering to their traditions and modesty, but
this is being eroded on daily basis as the west continues to push for certain political and cultural
ideas (Nouh, 2018). The Arabic world has further seen government instabilities that have led to
internal conflicts and civil war leading to loss of property and deaths thus economic stagnation.
Further, through criticisms of the Arabic people way of life, the moral fabric that binds the
Arabic people together is being disintegrated thus social imperialism as cited in Hafez (2008). In
conclusion, the western culture and media has had a negative impact on the Arabic people and
more need to be done to regulate some aspects of the western media and culture in the Arab
world.
References
Al Khouli, R. (2018). The Role Of Western Media In Distorting The Image Of Arabs And
Muslims. Journal of International Communication.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331971652_THE_ROLE_OF_WESTERN_ME
DIA_IN_DI STORTING_THE_IMAGE_OF_ARABS_AND_MUSLIMS
Enikolopov, R. & Petrova, M. (2017). Mass media and its influence on behaviour. CREi.
https://www.crei.cat/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Opuscle-44_ENG.pdf
Filiu, J. P. (2011). The Arab revolution: ten lessons from the democratic uprising. Oxford
University Press.
https://books.google.ae/books?id=qu18wX6I2isC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_Vie
wAPI&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
Hafez, K. (2008). The role of media in the Arab world’s transformation process. Bound to
Cooperate: Europe and the Middle East II, 2, 321.
https://www.uni-erfurt.de/fileadmin/fakultaet/philosophische/Medien-
_und_Kommunikationswissenschaft/Personen/Hafez/inhalt899_bound_hafez.pdf
Ibrahim Nouh, I. M. (2018). The Political and Social Influences of the West ‘Us’ in the Arab
World ‘Others’. Asian Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, 12(2), 257-272.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/25765949.2018.1485893
Kalliny, M., & Gentry, L. (2007). Cultural values reflected in Arab and American television
advertising. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, 29(1), 15-32
http://web.b.ebscohost.com.zulib.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=4d519065
-3c0e-42d5-8d4d-425c84bacbf8%40pdc-v-sessmgr04
Olwan, R.M (2013). Intellectual Property and Development: Theory and Practice. Springer
Science & Business Media.
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/zu-ebooks/reader.action?docID=1082434&ppg=8
Trumbach, R. (1990). Is There a Modern Sexual Culture in the West; Or, Did England Never
Change between 1500 and 1900? Journal of the History of Sexuality, 1(2), 296-309.
Retrieved November 19, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3704242
Tomlinson, J. (2012). Cultural imperialism. The Wiley‐Blackwell Encyclopedia of
Globalization.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9780470670590.wbeog129
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