It felt very wrong to take a picture of this 'Bedouin' woman, making her an object of amazement instead of a real human being. Turton cites Sontag, who speaks of the 'predatory nature of picture taking'.[1] A picture would enable us to 'possess' this poor woman.
You could feel the differential power relation on different levels: between the woman and us, the Dutch Bedouin woman and the native Bedouin men and we 'westerners' and the Bedouin people. The inequality in this power relationship was tangible. The gender inequality made my teeth grind as well. How could they treat this woman this way?
The whole situation made me reflect upon what we are doing as tourists. We 'gaze'[2]. at the otherness of people, amaze at their backwardness or strange habits. Sometimes tourism feels a bit like colonialism. Edward Said (see L'aventure commence) would agree with me that this treatment of women fell right into our Orientalistic views.3. Then again, I also felt the object of gazing. The Bedouin men were looking at the 'funny' tourists, gazing at our otherness as well.
Tada! Omar unveils the woman, it turns out to be a member of our group! I laugh, awkwardly. This ' joke' was a tough reminder on how awkward tourist and local encounters can be.
1. Turton, David. "Lip‐plates and ‘the people who take photographs’: uneasy encounters between Mursi and tourists in southern Ethiopia." Anthropology today 20.3 (2004): 3-8.
2. Urry, John. The tourist gaze. Sage, 2002.
3. Said, Edward. "Orientalism: Western representations of the Orient." New York: Pantheon (1978).
Nice post! Never thought about it this way. Omar made an 'academical' joke ;)
BeantwoordenVerwijderenThanks Anouar for your reaction. The whole awkward situation really got me thinking. Did you experience the same?
VerwijderenNice post! Never thought about it this way. Omar made an 'academical' joke ;)
BeantwoordenVerwijderenGisteren sprak ik met neef Willem (van de Van Leeuwen-kant van mijn familie) over 'aapjes kijken' bij de Audi-fabriek. Er worden voor toeristen rondleidingen gegeven door de productiehallen. Daarbij loop je direct langs de productiemedewerkers. De rondleidingen zijn een maand van te voren volgeboekt en Willem kon er dus geen kijkje nemen. Zijn vraag was waarom ze het aantal rondleidingen niet verhogen, aangezien de vraag zo groot is. Het antwoord blijkt met jouw blog te maken te hebben: de OR heeft een verhoging van het aantal bezoekers afgewezen, omdat medewerkers zich bekeken voelen, als in een dierentuin. Bleef er voor Willem niets anders over dan naar München te rijden, waar BMW hem wel een productierondleiding gaf.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenDag Doortje,
VerwijderenDank voor je reactie. Het is inderdaad heel naar om ongevraagd bekeken te worden. Wat interessant dat het dus niet alleen in toerisme gebeurd, maar dus ook in Willems beroep.
Oh my, that was an awkward situation! Such situations happen more often than you can imagine. For tourists all over the world often a play is performed to give an idea of "real" life. :)
BeantwoordenVerwijderenYou are quite right! Isn't 'all the world a stage'?
VerwijderenThis also reminds me of some news footage. For instance, sometimes there are almost more journalists trying to get the perfect picture of a palastinian trowing a rock than that there are protestors. I reminds me that the way I view the world is often the result of the view others construct for me.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenThank you Jos for your reaction. Yes, the media can be very bias and controlling in your world views. Just look at the way the Syrian refugees are depicted at the moment. Are they really turning down help because it isn't hallal? Or is that right wing propaganda? And it all of the Middle East or let's say Africa as chaotic as it is depicted?
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