Arab Women Identity in the Oprah Winfrey Show: A Critical Study

Abstract

Ideologies play a pivotal role in analyzing the identities of discourse makers. The current study implements the theory of critical discourse analysis to investigate the ideological themes of the Arab and Western identities involved in The Oprah Winfrey Show. Moreover, individuals tend to assert their identities according to the social group they belong to. Social groups are categorized into in-group and out-group. In-group members are categorized, identified, and compared to out-group members to show group favoritism and thus, they positively produce themselves while negatively produce the others. Through identity analysis, this research attempts to show whether the covert ideologies of Queen Rania, Sheikha Al-zain Al-sabah, and Oprah Winfrey are negative or positive in portraying Arab women image in the Middle East. As a conclusion, the findings illuminate that Westerners, including Oprah Winfrey, have negative portrayal for Arab/Muslim women as being oppressed and dominated by men. Conversely, The Queen and Sheikha Al-sabah positively present the image of Arab/Muslim woman. Thus, each group represents its own ideologies to show in-group belongingness.