Anna Stone
Dr. Brown
ENG 306
5 March 2016
Saudi Arabian Protest through Western Pop Culture
Music is an art form that transcends borders and can carry a message simply through sound waves. An artist that frequently uses her music to make protests and political statements is M.I.A, the stage name for British/ Sri Lanka singer Mathangi Arulpragasam, also known as Maya (Hirschberg). M.I.A. is known for the controversial political statements made in her music. In 2012 M.I.A. released a music video for her song “Bad Girls” that sparked various conversations through her use of Saudi Arabian culture and protest of the Saudi Arabian ban on women driving. Saudi Arabia is the only Islamic country that does not allow women to drive, frustrating the women and creating a need for change (Zuberi). The Women to Drive movement was sparked by Wajeha Al-Huwaider in 2008 when she posted a video of herself driving, and encouraged other women to do the same (Al-Huwaider). Al-Huwaider explains her reasoning for standing up to the ban “there is nothing in the Koran that forbids driving. No, the reason we are not allowed to drive is that the power to transport ourselves would give men much less control over us” (Al-Huwaider). The “Bad Girls” music video shows empowered Saudi Arabian women driving cars, protesting against the driving ban. M.I.A.’s “Bad Girls” music video utilizes pop culture in order to make a statement for the Women to Drive campaign in Saudi Arabia by portraying Saudi Arabian women as powerful.
The “Bad Girls” music video portrays Saudi Arabian dress, culture, practices, and protests, such as the Women to Drive movement. The music video is set heavily in a Saudi Arabian context, shown in the dress worn by the actors. In the video men are portrayed in traditional thobes, white ankle length tunics, and traditional headdresses with red and white checked cloths called a gutra (“Traditional”). The women are shown in veils called hijabs and long flowing cloaks called abayahs (“Traditional”). However the abayah is not in the traditional black color, but in modern animal prints and patterns, portraying the women as younger modern Saudi Arabian women that have the power to style their abayahs as they like (“Traditional”). This entire context is established at the beginning of the video, showing a group of men in traditional dress hanging out of a van. This image is shown before the name of the music video, the artist, or the director. In doing this it immediately establishes a Saudi Arabian identity with the viewer. The Saudi Arabian context influences the interpretation of the video based on the audience viewing it.
The “Bad Girls” music video had the ability to be spread to countries around the world through the use of YouTube, as do all music videos. However the “Bad Girls” music video had two intended audiences, and the video functions in different ways for each. “Bad Girls” is a song sung in English, to M.I.A’s large western fan base. For this audience the context of the music video may not register specifically as Saudi Arabian, however the dress would be identifiable to them as traditionally worn by Muslim’s. The depiction of Saudi Arabian people in this video challenges western ideas “Instead of the gloomy faced oppression of “third worlders” waiting for first world sponsorship, she (M.I.A.) brings us their rhythms, colors, and slang” (Siddiqi). As Siddiqi states the pop culture platform M.I.A. has is being utilized to portray a different view of a Muslim country, including the women. The protest purpose for this audience is to show Saudi Arabian women as empowered and strong. Depicting women dancing, hanging out of cars, and holding guns gives an image of defiance and empowerment that would not typically be seen by a western audience (MIAVEVO). This purpose works in a similar way for the second audience.
The second, however equally as important, audience for the “Bad Girls” music video are people that have knowledge of Saudi Arabia and the ban on women driving. This audience does not necessarily have to live in Saudi Arabia, but could be Saudi Arabian or Muslim people living in Western countries like the United States, Britain, and European countries. All of these people would understand the significance of portraying a woman driving a car alongside men and see the reference to the law, and the Women to Drive movement. For Muslim people living in Western countries it may raise awareness to them that a movement is in place to abolish this law. Both of these purposes are to show empowered women protesting against societal and legal barriers.
The “Bad Girls” music video is a protest that utilizes imagery and pop culture in order to convey its messages, along with the traditional protest forms of pathos, logos and kairos. Pathos is used to influence both audiences through the activities done by the women in the video. At the 59 second mark in the “Bad Girls” video M.I.A. says the word “bang” at the same time as all the women behind her hold up guns (MIAVEVO). To both audiences the stereotype of Muslim men and guns is automatically associated. However showing women holding guns twists this narrative, and uses pathos to shock the viewer. Muslim men are portrayed as a threat in western culture, and portraying women with guns establishes them as a threat also. It shows them willing to fight for a western audience, and wanting to fight against unfair driving laws to the informed audience.
For the western audience logos is used to link Saudi Arabian women and western women through their portrayal in pop culture. For a western audience with little context of Saudi Arabia the portrayal of women dancing in printed hijbas challenges their view of pop culture. Seeing women dance along to an upbeat song is something seen in music videos everyday, using women in printed hijabs and abayahs forces the audience to view these women as equal to white dancers in American or British pop videos. This logical connection is one automatically established with reason in the viewers mind, and works to persuade them that Muslim women are empowered people. This works the same way with an audience that understands Saudi Arabia. Throughout the video there is a red car shown with a woman driving, and another woman hanging out of the side of the car (MIAVEVO). The portrayal of Saudi Arabian women driving is a logical connection to the ban, making this illegal and protesting the driving law. At the 1:50 mark a woman in traditional dress is seen drifting, the male pastime of driving a car on two wheels (Noisey). This immediately registers as a male dominated activity, and showing a woman do it reasonably connects to protesting the ban on women driving.
The use of kairos is the most prevalent protest imagery conveyed through this music video. The image sequence is placed precisely in order to convey the message for the Women to Drive campaign. The video begins without the song “bad girls” in the background, but with an instrumental, and at the 15 second mark shows a car surrounded and filled with women, including a woman in the drivers seat (MIAVEVO). This initial start to the video is the opportune time to portray women in cars, establishing a connection with the campaign. Another important factor to this image is the body language of the women, they have their arms crossed, and all are facing the camera. The body language conveyed here is one of power and intimidation. At 17 seconds the camera then zooms in to the faces of individual women standing outside the car, staring directly at the viewer (MIAVEVO). This image is a powerful portrayal of Saudi Arabian women, not the typical victim stance that is given by Western media. These women are strong and determined, emphasizing they will have their own impact, no one has to do it for them.
However the use of protest in the video may not have been the most effective. The video is able to be understood by more than one audience, but the specific protest the Women to Drive movement wants to convey is not clear for all audiences in this video. Even those who were aware of the affiliation with the Women2Drive movement, dismissed it in favor of the culture depicted in the video “ ‘Bad Girls’ also championed the “Women to drive movement” in Saudi Arabia….But the real draw of the behind-the-scenes video is the car tricks themselves” (Kreps). This blatant dismissal of a profound political statement may be due to the celebratory nature of Saudi Arabian culture in the video. The “Bad Girls” music video also received negative press after it was first released, due to the depiction of Saudi Arabian culture in the video “Some argue that the message is a fundamentally empowering one… unabashed critique of Saudi Arabia's well-known ban against women driving…others claim that the overarching impact of this video is a perpetuation of orientalized depictions of Arab culture (Zohdy). This polarizing interpretation of the video shows it has a questionable legibility, making it a less effective protest.
Despite criticisms “Bad Girls” won music video of the year at the British MTV Music Video Awards, which gave it an immense amount of exposure, along with the women to drive movement. The imagery used in the music video was used as a protest against the law that prohibits women from driving. The approach M.I.A. took to convey protest in this video may not have been the most effective in bringing exposure to the movement, but it does provide a nod of empowerment to women in Saudi Arabia to see women like them driving and dancing in a music video, for this representation is not something typically seen in pop culture.
Works Cited
Al-Huwaider, Wajeha. "Fighting for Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 16 Aug. 2009. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
Hirschberg, Lynn. "M.I.A.’s Agitprop Pop." The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 May 2010. Web. 2
Kreps, Daniel. "How M.I.A. Captured the Wild Car Tricks in ‘Bad Girls’ Video | SPIN." Spin. SpinMedia, 19 Mar. 2012. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
MIAVEVO. "M.I.A. - Bad Girls." YouTube. YouTube, 5 Feb. 2012. Web. 07 Feb. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yuqxl284cg>.
Noisey. "M.I.A. - "Bad Girls" (Official Behind the Scenes)." YouTube. YouTube, 19 Mar. 2012. Web. 23 Feb. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6-sNTOhYnU>.
Siddiqi, Ayesha A. "The Pop Diaspora of M.I.A." Noisey. Vice, 4 Nov. 2013. Web. 5 Mar. 2016.
"Traditional Dress of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." The Lovely Planet. The Lovely Planet, 22 July 2014. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
Zohdy, Nada. "What MIA's New "Bad Girls" Video Says About Arabs." Mic. N.p., 10 Feb. 2012. Web. 05 Mar. 2016.
Zuberi, Hena. "The Rosa Parks of Saudi Arabia: Women Challenging the Ban by Driving." MuslimMattersorg. MuslimMatters, 22 May 2011. Web. 07 Feb. 2016.
Dr. Brown
ENG 306
5 March 2016
Saudi Arabian Protest through Western Pop Culture
Music is an art form that transcends borders and can carry a message simply through sound waves. An artist that frequently uses her music to make protests and political statements is M.I.A, the stage name for British/ Sri Lanka singer Mathangi Arulpragasam, also known as Maya (Hirschberg). M.I.A. is known for the controversial political statements made in her music. In 2012 M.I.A. released a music video for her song “Bad Girls” that sparked various conversations through her use of Saudi Arabian culture and protest of the Saudi Arabian ban on women driving. Saudi Arabia is the only Islamic country that does not allow women to drive, frustrating the women and creating a need for change (Zuberi). The Women to Drive movement was sparked by Wajeha Al-Huwaider in 2008 when she posted a video of herself driving, and encouraged other women to do the same (Al-Huwaider). Al-Huwaider explains her reasoning for standing up to the ban “there is nothing in the Koran that forbids driving. No, the reason we are not allowed to drive is that the power to transport ourselves would give men much less control over us” (Al-Huwaider). The “Bad Girls” music video shows empowered Saudi Arabian women driving cars, protesting against the driving ban. M.I.A.’s “Bad Girls” music video utilizes pop culture in order to make a statement for the Women to Drive campaign in Saudi Arabia by portraying Saudi Arabian women as powerful.
The “Bad Girls” music video portrays Saudi Arabian dress, culture, practices, and protests, such as the Women to Drive movement. The music video is set heavily in a Saudi Arabian context, shown in the dress worn by the actors. In the video men are portrayed in traditional thobes, white ankle length tunics, and traditional headdresses with red and white checked cloths called a gutra (“Traditional”). The women are shown in veils called hijabs and long flowing cloaks called abayahs (“Traditional”). However the abayah is not in the traditional black color, but in modern animal prints and patterns, portraying the women as younger modern Saudi Arabian women that have the power to style their abayahs as they like (“Traditional”). This entire context is established at the beginning of the video, showing a group of men in traditional dress hanging out of a van. This image is shown before the name of the music video, the artist, or the director. In doing this it immediately establishes a Saudi Arabian identity with the viewer. The Saudi Arabian context influences the interpretation of the video based on the audience viewing it.
The “Bad Girls” music video had the ability to be spread to countries around the world through the use of YouTube, as do all music videos. However the “Bad Girls” music video had two intended audiences, and the video functions in different ways for each. “Bad Girls” is a song sung in English, to M.I.A’s large western fan base. For this audience the context of the music video may not register specifically as Saudi Arabian, however the dress would be identifiable to them as traditionally worn by Muslim’s. The depiction of Saudi Arabian people in this video challenges western ideas “Instead of the gloomy faced oppression of “third worlders” waiting for first world sponsorship, she (M.I.A.) brings us their rhythms, colors, and slang” (Siddiqi). As Siddiqi states the pop culture platform M.I.A. has is being utilized to portray a different view of a Muslim country, including the women. The protest purpose for this audience is to show Saudi Arabian women as empowered and strong. Depicting women dancing, hanging out of cars, and holding guns gives an image of defiance and empowerment that would not typically be seen by a western audience (MIAVEVO). This purpose works in a similar way for the second audience.
The second, however equally as important, audience for the “Bad Girls” music video are people that have knowledge of Saudi Arabia and the ban on women driving. This audience does not necessarily have to live in Saudi Arabia, but could be Saudi Arabian or Muslim people living in Western countries like the United States, Britain, and European countries. All of these people would understand the significance of portraying a woman driving a car alongside men and see the reference to the law, and the Women to Drive movement. For Muslim people living in Western countries it may raise awareness to them that a movement is in place to abolish this law. Both of these purposes are to show empowered women protesting against societal and legal barriers.
The “Bad Girls” music video is a protest that utilizes imagery and pop culture in order to convey its messages, along with the traditional protest forms of pathos, logos and kairos. Pathos is used to influence both audiences through the activities done by the women in the video. At the 59 second mark in the “Bad Girls” video M.I.A. says the word “bang” at the same time as all the women behind her hold up guns (MIAVEVO). To both audiences the stereotype of Muslim men and guns is automatically associated. However showing women holding guns twists this narrative, and uses pathos to shock the viewer. Muslim men are portrayed as a threat in western culture, and portraying women with guns establishes them as a threat also. It shows them willing to fight for a western audience, and wanting to fight against unfair driving laws to the informed audience.
For the western audience logos is used to link Saudi Arabian women and western women through their portrayal in pop culture. For a western audience with little context of Saudi Arabia the portrayal of women dancing in printed hijbas challenges their view of pop culture. Seeing women dance along to an upbeat song is something seen in music videos everyday, using women in printed hijabs and abayahs forces the audience to view these women as equal to white dancers in American or British pop videos. This logical connection is one automatically established with reason in the viewers mind, and works to persuade them that Muslim women are empowered people. This works the same way with an audience that understands Saudi Arabia. Throughout the video there is a red car shown with a woman driving, and another woman hanging out of the side of the car (MIAVEVO). The portrayal of Saudi Arabian women driving is a logical connection to the ban, making this illegal and protesting the driving law. At the 1:50 mark a woman in traditional dress is seen drifting, the male pastime of driving a car on two wheels (Noisey). This immediately registers as a male dominated activity, and showing a woman do it reasonably connects to protesting the ban on women driving.
The use of kairos is the most prevalent protest imagery conveyed through this music video. The image sequence is placed precisely in order to convey the message for the Women to Drive campaign. The video begins without the song “bad girls” in the background, but with an instrumental, and at the 15 second mark shows a car surrounded and filled with women, including a woman in the drivers seat (MIAVEVO). This initial start to the video is the opportune time to portray women in cars, establishing a connection with the campaign. Another important factor to this image is the body language of the women, they have their arms crossed, and all are facing the camera. The body language conveyed here is one of power and intimidation. At 17 seconds the camera then zooms in to the faces of individual women standing outside the car, staring directly at the viewer (MIAVEVO). This image is a powerful portrayal of Saudi Arabian women, not the typical victim stance that is given by Western media. These women are strong and determined, emphasizing they will have their own impact, no one has to do it for them.
However the use of protest in the video may not have been the most effective. The video is able to be understood by more than one audience, but the specific protest the Women to Drive movement wants to convey is not clear for all audiences in this video. Even those who were aware of the affiliation with the Women2Drive movement, dismissed it in favor of the culture depicted in the video “ ‘Bad Girls’ also championed the “Women to drive movement” in Saudi Arabia….But the real draw of the behind-the-scenes video is the car tricks themselves” (Kreps). This blatant dismissal of a profound political statement may be due to the celebratory nature of Saudi Arabian culture in the video. The “Bad Girls” music video also received negative press after it was first released, due to the depiction of Saudi Arabian culture in the video “Some argue that the message is a fundamentally empowering one… unabashed critique of Saudi Arabia's well-known ban against women driving…others claim that the overarching impact of this video is a perpetuation of orientalized depictions of Arab culture (Zohdy). This polarizing interpretation of the video shows it has a questionable legibility, making it a less effective protest.
Despite criticisms “Bad Girls” won music video of the year at the British MTV Music Video Awards, which gave it an immense amount of exposure, along with the women to drive movement. The imagery used in the music video was used as a protest against the law that prohibits women from driving. The approach M.I.A. took to convey protest in this video may not have been the most effective in bringing exposure to the movement, but it does provide a nod of empowerment to women in Saudi Arabia to see women like them driving and dancing in a music video, for this representation is not something typically seen in pop culture.
Works Cited
Al-Huwaider, Wajeha. "Fighting for Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 16 Aug. 2009. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
Hirschberg, Lynn. "M.I.A.’s Agitprop Pop." The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 May 2010. Web. 2
Kreps, Daniel. "How M.I.A. Captured the Wild Car Tricks in ‘Bad Girls’ Video | SPIN." Spin. SpinMedia, 19 Mar. 2012. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
MIAVEVO. "M.I.A. - Bad Girls." YouTube. YouTube, 5 Feb. 2012. Web. 07 Feb. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yuqxl284cg>.
Noisey. "M.I.A. - "Bad Girls" (Official Behind the Scenes)." YouTube. YouTube, 19 Mar. 2012. Web. 23 Feb. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6-sNTOhYnU>.
Siddiqi, Ayesha A. "The Pop Diaspora of M.I.A." Noisey. Vice, 4 Nov. 2013. Web. 5 Mar. 2016.
"Traditional Dress of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." The Lovely Planet. The Lovely Planet, 22 July 2014. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
Zohdy, Nada. "What MIA's New "Bad Girls" Video Says About Arabs." Mic. N.p., 10 Feb. 2012. Web. 05 Mar. 2016.
Zuberi, Hena. "The Rosa Parks of Saudi Arabia: Women Challenging the Ban by Driving." MuslimMattersorg. MuslimMatters, 22 May 2011. Web. 07 Feb. 2016.
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