The Temptress on Trial: How the Salome Archetype Fuels Anti-Feminist Bias in MENA Legal Systems

The Temptress Archetype and the Cultural Work of Blame

Storytelling is deeply embedded in our cultures and histories. Passed down across generations, stories become part of our collective memory, subtly shaping the values, roles, and expectations that govern society. But what kind of lessons do these stories teach? How are they interpreted? And whose interest do they serve?

Whether myth, legend, or historical anecdote, the tales that endure tend to leave deep marks in the cultural fabric. As they are told and retold, they solidify into archetypes: symbolic figures that carry ideological weight. These archetypes are never neutral, especially when tied to gender and sexuality. They reflect and reinforce ideas about morality, power, and social order.

One of the most enduring, insidious and harmful archetypes is the archetype of the temptress. While its origin can be traced back to figures like Eve, punished with pain and subjugation for the original sin, and Lilith, who dared to demand equality and was cast out for it, one biblical woman became the poster child for this archetype: Salome.

Unlike Eve, whose story and legacy are theological, or Lilith, who is invoked as a symbol of rebellion, Salome’s story is uniquely theatrical and judicial. She is remembered as the sensual girl, the biblical femme fatale, whose dance led to the execution of a prophet. Her legacy fuses sexuality with guilt, spectacle with punishment, and continues to haunt how women’s bodies and desires are interpreted in courts of law.

Dance of the Seven Veils

"On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Prompted by her mother, she said, ‘Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.’" – Matthew (14:6-11)

And that was exactly what he did.

Salome, the niece of Herod Antipas, became the quintessential malignant woman in Abrahamic traditions for obeying her mother’s wishes as a young teen and bringing about the downfall of John the Baptist (aka the Prophet Yahia). Her story inspired literary and cultural production across the centuries, from religious texts to Renaissance paintings, Romantic literature, and modern cinema, all of which cemented the temptress archetype as both an aesthetic and a cautionary tale.

Yet not all interpretations are so reductive. Some see Salome as a girl coerced into obedience, a child manipulated by her mother and the patriarchal court. Others interpret her story as a parable of family dysfunction, where the young girl becomes a pawn in adult power games. These counter-narratives challenge the dominant archetype, revealing how simplified, moralistic retellings erase complexity, nuance and context.

#MeToo and the Seismic Crack

The global #MeToo movement marked a seismic shift in how societies confront sexual harassment. From Hollywood boardrooms to US Supreme court confirmation hearings, from political campaigns to university halls, survivors of sexual violence began to speak out, demanding accountability from those who had long operated with impunity.

But this reckoning did not resonate on the same wavelength everywhere.

Although misogyny is a global phenomenon, in many parts of the MENA region, it is tolerated and even encouraged under legal systems shaped by patriarchal readings of religion and tradition. Women who speak out risk not only social alienation, but also arrest, reputational destruction, and sometimes death.

In Egypt, Nayera Ashraf was murdered in broad daylight on the steps of her university for rejecting a man’s advances. Social media was quickly flooded with commentary suggesting she “provoked” her killer with her appearance and the way she rejected him. Some even called her cruel for the mere act of asserting her boundaries and exercising control over her life choices. In Jordan, cases of femicide have been dubbed “honor killings” and were handled with legal leniency. Although Article 340 of the Jordanian Penal Code, which once allowed men to kill women relatives caught in adultery without punishment, has been amended, such killings persist and public opinion remains divided.

And in Sudan, when a wave of harassment allegations began circulating online, the conversation swiftly turned to the morality of the women speaking out. The #MeToo hashtag in Sudan a digital campaign beginning around 2021, was met with intense backlash, as survivors were re-cast as instigators and accused of indecency, seduction, and tarnishing the reputations of promising young men.

The Sudanese Law Does Not Protect Salome

Sudan’s 1991 Penal Code criminalizes “seduction” and “temptation,” theoretically applying to both genders. It even gestures toward the abuse of authority by men. But in practice, it offers little in the way of procedures or clarity about the evidence required for one to make a case. The burden of proof prevents many survivors of assault from reaching out to ask for help and imposes only light penalties for harassment, unless it escalates to rape.

In such an evidentiary vacuum, outcomes are often shaped by popular perception rather than proof. And perceptions are still haunted by archetypes.

Legal systems are supposed to avoid wrongful conviction. But when a woman is punished simply for refusing to conceal her femininity behind shame – when her poise, tone, or her demeanor are seen as measures by which to assess her credibility – caution is subverted by the desire to punish and control.

The Path to Unlearning

The temptress archetype thrives where it is left unchallenged. It quietly structures institutions, frames media stories, and sways the perceptions of judges and juries. It can exclude, ostracize and even kill. In some contexts, this archetype supports cultural practices like female genital mutilation (FGM), which is defended as necessary to curb “temptation” and preserve “honor”.

To challenge this symbol we must confront it at its roots: in school curricula, in parliamentary bills of rights that shape how women are seen, in courtrooms that police their behavior, in Friday prayers, and in Sunday sermons. This also requires more than token inclusion in judicial bodies, legal drafting spaces, and forums for religious interpretation. Women must be present as decision-makers, not as symbols of representation. But presence alone is not enough. Without a feminist lens, participation can end up reinforcing the very myths that continue to oppress.

It also means recognizing that bias doesn’t always announce itself. It whispers in non-verbal cues. It moves through glances cast at a victim’s clothes. It influences which cases go to trial and which are dismissed for “lack of evidence.”

Unlearning the temptress archetype means reclaiming complexity. It means telling stories that don’t begin and end with seduction, that don't impose guilt on desire. And it means placing power in the hands of women who have long been seen as threats, simply for existing as women.

When seduction is no longer synonymous with sin, when femininity is no longer a liability, and when a woman can walk into a courtroom without being pre-judged by a cultural myth, 

Then, maybe, Salome can rest.

The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.