Is 'My week as a muslim' justified?

[donquixotedelamancha]

I'm watching a documentary on 4 where a Racist white woman lives with a british muslim family, while made up as if of south asian origin. The makeup is obviously problematic, but in this case I think it's justified.

I've always felt that people like the subject were very alien to me. I felt they didn't understand british values and stereotyped them a bit. In the past I've blamed them for a lot of britain's problems.

Watching the show I can't help admiring Katie's bravery and willingness to examine a different view. That isn't something I associated with Racists. The bit where she is abused while dressed as a muslim, and explains to her mum, has made me tear up a bit. In many ways they aren't so different from us.

What did everyone else think.

Sorry, I misunderstood. Who had the prosthetics/blackface?

I think it would have been a better programme with a real rather than a pretend Muslim woman wearing a camera.

They could have played the footage back to non Muslim/white people to get reactions and feelings on what they view if that's what they wanted.

I didn’t perceive Katie as inherently racist just astoundingly ignorant to anything other than her way of life

I agree and Samia? worked that out in very short time.

I watched it expecting to hate it because of my families cultural background but I really enjoyed it and everyone is coming round to watch it after brunch on Friday.

It would have been poignant to show a real life brown woman, both in a hijab and out of it, to demonstrate how bigoted even non-racists are.

Pumper I think C4 realised it was really just an episode of Wife Swap unless they had a gimmick, hence the browning up.
It never ceases to amaze me that many of the most predjudiced people live in the areas with hardly any of the groups they are so scared of. The person in the prosthetics was from part of Cheshire with hardly any muslims in it.

In the interests of science and social study, perhaps Channel Four could do a follow-up where a muslim woman "whites-up" and hangs out with a bunch of racists to get their point of view?

Seriously though, I thought "blacking-up" or "browning-up" was a long-dead concept. I think that at best this programme was just an excuse for cheap laughs at the woman's expense.

It never ceases to amaze me that many of the most predjudiced people live in the areas with hardly any of the groups they are so scared of.

I grew up in a village where there were (and still aren't) any people who aren't white. Even the surrounding big towns, very rare to see Muslims and niqabs/burkhas.
Some of the most ignorant people are the ones who just don't know anything about any other ways of lives. Live in their own little bubble as they just don't see any other cultures.
I think it's a fear of the unknown. Which kind of stands when I watched the programme last night - the racist woman herself had disgusting views but the fact that she changed her mind after living and mixing with Muslims just goes to show in a lot of cases it's pure and utter ignorance.
I think it's good if people mix more, and people get it into their head that we're all the same.

I'm from the same part of Cheshire that Katie was from. There are Muslims here, admittedly not vast numbers but they exist and they are part of the community. Katie was ignorant!

I don't think Katie came across as racist at all; more very naive and a little ignorant.

I wonder if they would ever do a reversal and one of the young women would go and live in Katie's house and follow her customs? I think that would be a really interesting show.

I did like the bit at the start when she and her daughter were doing make up and she said something along the lines of 'you'd never find Muslim women doing this' and then the camera cut to Samia and her daughters doing each other's make up.

I'm fairly conflicted on the make up. I agree with, "Your experience is only validated if it comes from a white person", however when she was in the mosque or on the street giving out the soup if she wasn't in the make up would she have thought they were just being nice for the camera?

But then is that worth the make up? For one person to find out another group of people are just people?

Can't imagine the experience was very 'authentic' when she was being followed around by a camera crew. Ridiculous.

I don't meet many Racists IRL. I freely admit I've stereotyped a bit

You probably have but just don’t know it. As pp said there are different types. Not all are abusive some think they’re not racist but then say something to you that is a racist stereotype or a jokey thing to you or a bit “they do this” but as they are not saying something hateful they don’t realise they’re racist themselves.

It may be something that never comes up in conversation so you just haven’t heard it but I assure you you know some of these racists at the very least.

Why do these sort of programmes never feature upper middle class people?

Oliversmumsarmy Please do expand, are clothes with religious significance merely a 'stereotype'

Yes as far as i am aware. If you think of a nun you think of a woman in a nuns habit. If you think of a vicar you think of someone wearing a black top with the type of collar a vicar wears. Even if you think of a pope you think of the clothes.

What I was trying to point out that not all muslim women wear the burka or the hijab or even a headscarf. Some muslim women go about in mini skirts and stilettos and work in offices and go out with work colleagues that take their fancy.
They are not the youngsters looking for their first love they tend to be divorced older women with children.

If anything the programme was relying on stereotypes.