Love, Sex and the Arab Woman: A Thematic Analysis of Relationship Advice Articles in Arabic Language Women’s Magazines

This study aims to investigate the themes and messages of sex and relationship advice articles in two Arabic language women’s magazines published in two different locations in the Middle East, that is, the UAE and Lebanon. In addition to examining the similarities and/or differences of themes found in the Arabic language women’s magazines in these two Arab societies, this study also aims to compare the themes in these magazines to those found in locally produced English language women’s magazines in the Middle East, as established in previous studies. The initial hypothesis of the researchers was that the different languages and the different readership of these magazines would be major factors accounting for possible differences. Fifteen articles from the relationship advice sections of each magazine were selected for this study. Both semantic and latent approaches were used in the analysis of themes in order to analyse not just what is foregrounded by these texts but also what is backgrounded or omitted. The findings of the study reveal that despite the difference in language and readership, themes such as the primacy of marriage and the narrative of love and affection towards husbands appear to be integral to women’s magazines published in the Middle East, either in Arabic or in English. However, there are some subtle differences in how these themes are expressed in the magazines. This fact clearly illustrates the need for a more nuanced discussion on gender and sexuality in the Middle East in order to minimise the perpetuation of stereotypical constructs of Arab women.