The Perpetual Outrage Machine got a workout a few days back when ABC Family revealed it was working on a show called "Alice in Arabia." The very basic synopsis disclosed that the show was about "an American teenage girl who is unknowingly kidnapped by her extended Saudi Arabian family after her parents die. She finds herself a stranger in a new world, a prisoner in her grandfather's royal compound, but is intrigued by the country's offerings and diverse people." Oh noes! Stereotypes! Microaggressions ahead!
BuzzFeed snagged a copy of the pilot's script and, oh my, it's so problematic. Here's BuzzFeed's Rega Jha:
The show has some departures from the standard template. The heroine is half-Saudi, and sees herself as a "good Muslim girl" — not the blonde Christian victim more typical of the genre. But it broadly plays on a familiar narrative of a beautiful girl kidnapped from the United States by sinister Arabs, held against her will in the desert, and threatened with early marriage.
This complaint would hold far more weight with me if it wasn't for, you know, Saudi Arabia's actual record on the rights of women. I mean, how dare the show suggest that women are held against their will in the hot Saudi desert, amirite Human Rights Watch?
The Saudi guardianship system continues to treat women as minors. Under this discriminatory system, girls and women of all ages are forbidden from traveling, studying, or working without permission from their male guardians.
Oh. Geez. Well, that suggestion that women would be subjected to early marriage against their will is really unfair, right?
Atgaa, 10, and her sister Reemya, 8, are about to be married to men in their 60s. Atgaa will be her husband's fourth wife. Their wedding celebrations are scheduled for this week and will take place in the town of Fayaadah Abban in Qasim, Saudi Arabia. ...
As with many pernicious practices, child marriage would not exist without tacit support and approval from the country's leadership. Far from condemning child marriage, the Saudi monarchy itself has a long history of marrying very young girls.
Eek. Well, that bit about the kidnapping. Certainly that's an unfair point to bring up with regard to Saudi Arabia.
Women, primarily from Asian and African countries, are believed to be forced into prostitution in Saudi Arabia. Some female domestic workers are reportedly kidnapped and forced into prostitution after running away from abusive employers. Yemeni, Nigerian, Pakistani, Afghan, Chadian, and Sudanese children are subjected to forced labor as beggars and street vendors in Saudi Arabia, facilitated by criminal gangs. A Saudi study conducted in 2011 reported that most beggars in Saudi Arabia are Yemenis between the ages of 16 and 25. Some Saudi nationals travel to destinations including Morocco, Egypt, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh to solicit prostitution. Some Saudi men used legally contracted "temporary marriages" in countries such as Egypt, India, Mauritania, Yemen, and Indonesia as a means by which to sexually exploit young girls and women overseas.
Frankly, I think feminists and other members of the broader left-wing coalition in America would be happy to see a show like this hit airwaves. Saudi Arabia is a medieval theocracy that brutally oppresses women; isn't this something we should be highlighting and denouncing? Isn't providing your average American tween—who, if I may paint with a broad brush, isn't terribly interested in world affairs—a window into this lifestyle a good thing?
Now, I realize that passing value judgments on another culture—a minority culture, at that—makes the left, broadly speaking, very uncomfortable.* But it's a terrible culture whose values we should reject. I for one salute ABC Family for their bravery and hope they bring the show to air. Don't sugarcoat the evils of an evil regime.
*"Since when?" my conservative Christian friends are screaming at their computer screens right now.