I told a friend of mine (her parents are from Jordan) about our project and she told me about Nancy Ajram, a lebanese singer who is apparently very popular. I did my research on YouTube and found a video (linked below) called Boussi Boussi Bouss. I couldn't find a translation of the song but the video was a little shocking to me.
I was hoping I'd see a video that ideally would show the lived and daily struggles of a woman living in Lebanon. Instead, I saw the same old tropes we've been learning about in class.
The first thing you hear, before the music even starts, is a rooster crowing. The video has so many elements of the primitive and exotic view of the Middle East. The girl is shown washing her clothes in a bucket and then hanging them up on a clothesline outside to dry. Not only that, but there are random ducks and other animals all around her as she's doing this. This is obviously a manifestation of the naturalization trope. The woman in the video is reduced to being shown as innately closer to nature.
The woman is also shown as exotic and forbidden. A man is on the street and she looks at him through her window and is holding her hair in front of her face as if to show how shy and coy she is. She does this several times throughout the five minute video. During the whole video, the man follows her on his bike and at one point, she has a basket on her head and is swaying her hips in front of him. bell hooks would argue that this is a case of Eating the Other. It looks complimentary on the surface but what do we really know about this woman and her relationship with the man, or any other part of her life for that matter?
That being said, I actually really like this song. :)
Boussi Boussi Bouss:
Nancy Ajram's Official Website:
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