The Representations and Perceptions of Lebanese Women in Lebanese Media: Exploring Gender Roles through the Show Take Me Out

Abstract

The following thesis will be dissecting and analyzing the Arabic version of the dating show Take Me Out, with particular attention to what was deemed as its controversial content. The show, which aired on the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International (LBCI) channel, also known as LBC, back in 2016, caused a commotion among its audiences for displaying scenes that are overtly sexual as well as relatively new to Lebanese television, especially when it came to gender roles and dynamics. As such, the first question that will be tackled by this thesis is: How do gender and sexual representations on the show and discourses about them evoke different values, norms, and traditions in the popular imagination? In an attempt to answer this question, I will be analyzing the content of the show and comparing and contrasting it with the norms and values in the Lebanese/Arab popular imagination. Consequently, I studied both the discourse within and around the show. As I was doing so, it appeared to me that Arab audiences were trying to attribute the speech and behavior of the show’s participants to their country of origin. This brings us to the second question that this thesis tries to answer, which is: How do gendered representations, and perhaps sexual behaviors, inflect discussions of national identity? Furthermore, how do online comments, specifically of a show like Take Me Out, contribute to the construction of national identities of audiences, specifically on platforms like YouTube?

To answer these questions, I conducted both textual and discourse analyses. The textual analysis focused on every fourth episode in each season, including the first and last episodes, while the discourse analysis focused on the comments made by audience members of the show on YouTube. The discourse analysis also briefly explores how different media outlets and public figures also reacted to the show and its content.