Abstract:
This study examines the perceptions of Middle Eastern women in the West within the context of the Middle East-West dichotomy. It addresses the images of Middle Eastern women rooted in Orientalist fantasies and desires for conquest—which functioned in the service of colonial strategies—as well as the primary themes in creating these images, and the rising critiques and objections against their global dominance. By analyzing the processes through which Western-centric knowledge and epistemic violence objectify the East, this investigation into the images of women within predominantly colonial-rooted hegemonic views opens up the continuities and ruptures across the colonial and post-colonial eras to debate from a sociological perspective. The study particularly investigates, in light of literature debates, how hegemonic discourses construct the identity of Middle Eastern women and legitimize it through the mechanism of the 'supremacy of the hegemonic truth.' In this regard, the contribution of the study lies in offering a practical literature review on women's studies in the Middle East.

Keywords: Women in the Middle East, Orientalism, Colonial Fantasies, Hegemonic Discourse

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