Western genies are distinct from the Middle-Eastern jinn they originated from, and can be characterized by three key traits: they are magical beings bound to objects who grant wishes (Peterson 2003). Western depictions of female genies construct the female genie as a nearly distinct supernatural entity. Critical to these constructions is a definition of freedom which reflects and reinforces heteronormative gender roles and American middle class sensibilities. Common traits of the female genie narrative include the genie serving a man, the sexually charged nature of the master-slave dynamic therein being used to show the male protagonist’s virtue, and the genie being liberated by a normative relationship to a man by the end.

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