Repercussions of Media Bias with Professor Evelyn Alsultany - New Episode
The parallels between how we caricaturize Arabs, Muslims, & the Childfree
Warning: this week’s episode is HEAVY. There’s a trigger warning, the subject matter is polarizing, and it might even upset you. To help ease you into it, I’ve included a short clip of guest Evelyn Alsultany and I discussing her 3.5 cats. Yes, you read that right: three and a half cats!
Scroll down for that treat. Plus weigh in on the next episode!
What does media bias have to do with how marginalized groups are perceived? EVERYTHING. Media bias—the way we see certain groups on TV and in movies—has a massive impact on how we view people in real life. And whether or not we see them as real human beings, or merely caricatures we don't have to care about. If people in the margins don't comport ourselves in a very specific way, then we aren't deemed worth giving a damn about.
In her book, Broken: The Failed Promise of Muslim Inclusion, Professor Evelyn Alsultany painstakingly tracks the "logics that legitimize excluding people, that legitimize inequality" and rejects the need for anyone to act like a "good" <insert marginalized person here> to be accepted.
Aside from being an expert on Arab and Muslim representation, Evelyn is also a childfree Latina. As a Cuban-Iraqi American, her work exposing why we view Arabs and Muslims through a narrow, Hollywood-perpetuated lens can help us understand why we might make unfair assumptions about people based on: their choices, skin color, accent, religion, and so on. It's obnoxious, it's outrageous, and we shouldn't accept it! Professor Alsultany is pushing back, and she's inviting us to do it, too.
This episode contains mentions of terrorism, rape, school shootings, and genocide.
How to Listen to Repercussions of Media Bias
Listen to Repercussions of Media Bias on Arabs, Muslims, & the Childfree with Professor Evelyn Alsultany on your favorite podcasting app or on Apple:
💻Or “listen” on YouTube:
Three and a Half Cats???
The interview with Professor Alsultany wasn’t entirely serious and academic. We had great laughs over several irreverent moments, including this short tail tale about her 3.5 cats.
I cut it from the episode but saved it for you subbies:
Behind the Scenes LVMC Update
Before I tell you what’s up, don’t forget to vote in the Self-Love Sundays poll.
So, the update: in case you missed the subtle hints I’ve been dropping about being in Los Angeles, we moved back from Puerto Rico.
It was an awkward learning lesson, but like I always say: decisions are not life sentences. So when we realized it wasn’t going to work out, we decided to take our lived experience for what it was and come back home.
Everyone has asked why and what happened. So we’ll tell that whole story when I interview my husband on the next episode (another first for this show). While we’re gearing up for that, ask me anything! Send me your questions by email.
Here are some questions we plan to cover:
What’s it like to move overseas with a partner?
How does the cost of living compare to LA?
What’s going on with the public schools out there?
I’m sure you’re curious, too. So don't be shy, email me! We’ll cover as many as we can in the episode together, and mention you by first name only (unless you tell me not to).
Thanks, and that’s a burrito! 🌯🌯🌯