Maira and Said article

In My Thesis, the article asserts that a range of dogmas regarding orientalism still persist in contemporary Western studies on Arabs and Islams (e.g., Orient is uniform and at the bottom). Said's (1976) critique on the ways in which even specialists and scholars frame Arabs and Islams relates to the question of "authenticity" of certain cultures in the sense that these folks still believe that a Islamic society, Arab mind, and oriental psyche exist (p. 105). The remaining question I have is whether there are research studies that invalidate the aforementioned argument and restrain from transmitting messages. To some extent, the author may be discrediting scholars who are attempting to inform without being biased or demonstrating dogmatic thinking. However, I do acknowledge that it may be difficult to do so consciously because unconscious, implicit biases still affect our ways of  thinking. One argument in Maira's (2007) article also relates to this idea as she asserts that "multiple iterations and citations of orientalism that reinforce its doxa even as they purport to deviate from it (p.224). Though the youth may be wearing Indo-chic clothing items or getting hennas, what gets lost more often is the symbolic meanings behind them. The commodified orientalism discussed in the reading may relate to indigenous dances in cultural shows or performances. For instance, one indigenous Filipino dance derived from the Lumad tribe in the Philippines yet people do not give proper credit to them or acknowledge the history or the extensive killings they are currently facing in the Philippines. The use of their clothes and dances may parallel to the use of henna and bellydancing as the "exotic" becomes mainstream largely due to globalization. Another important idea is that some may simply glamorize over such items for only a certain time period or based on trends due to the fluidity and constantly changing dynamics of popular culture and the meanings behind it (e.g., hair pieces or clothing with feathers).