FRENCH-ARAB IDENTITY ARTICLE BY GAL-DEM

I just read an article by May Ziade on Gal-dem about how her French-Arab identity is not a fashion trend or something that can be dismissed. I found this article so insightful for so many reasons. But also so relatable which is the first time I have really related to an article like this because I’ve never really read articles by people who may have shared the same experiences as me for example.

In the article, Ziade discusses that when looking at French Cinema, she spotted a pattern that most films that featured a french-arabic protagonist, was almost always having to learn how to become more ‘french’, or learn ‘french values’ and in short be more conforming to the majority of France.

I really resonated with this because I felt that when I moved to England, I remember starting at my school and noticing that so many of the girls were blonde, skinny, very fair and and as we all grew up they were not very hairy at all. I suppose in some ways this is a weird observation to make, however it really impacted the way I saw myself. I really quickly sought to try to conform to the white-british norms of straightening my hair, shaving/waxing any body or facial hair that the other girls didn’t have. And I know this is something that lots of children do growing up to conform to the social norms, however for me it really felt like a stripping of my heritage. In fact when I first moved to England, I would outwardly be so proud that I was half-Moroccan. And very quickly I realised and noticed the connotations of that and the stigma that came with it.

In the article, Ziade actually spoke about a time a friend of hers happily admitted that she didn’t consider Ziade as Arabic. Ziade goes on to explain that her ‘friend’ did this in spite of having visited and stayed with her family in Lebanon where it was very apparent of Ziade’s heritage and culture. Yet, Ziade’s friend was happier dismissing this part of Ziade’s cultural identity.

I really relate to this and recently have realised how racist and xenophobic an old school friend of mine is, and upon reading this article, this solidified my analysis of our friendship and I saw so many similarities within Ziade’s experience, and my ‘friendship’. In her article, Ziade says “Although I had confronted my white-passing privileges in the past as I navigated through French society with slightly fairer skin, grew up in a middle-class neighbourhood, and was raised an atheist, her remark felt like a new form of acquired privilege.” I really relate to this feeling and it felt, sadly, really refreshing to read that someone has had a similar experience to me as I never knew where I stood in terms of my white-passing privilege yet feeling secure in my moroccan heritage.

In fact, I really think that this is something I would like to address within my project; the toing and froing between accepting the privilege, and addressing the ever-valid experiences I have had in terms of my cultural identity.

My French-Arab identity is not your ‘in vogue’ feature of the month