Introduction
Arab women continue to play a crucial role in bringing out positive aspects of Arabic lifestyles in different areas they live. The media plays a crucial role in many Arab societies because it helps highlight different issues that affect people living there. Arab women who are actively involved in the media face various challenges which affect the way they perform their duties.
Some of them work in difficult environments which discourage them from doing their work. There are general stereotypes which have reinforced different perceptions against female journalists in various Arab societies. The media has failed to represent issues affecting Arab women fairly and this has made female journalists in Arab countries to face a lot of discrimination.
However, it must be noted that the media has helped some Arab women to get empowered by publicizing their views and opinions to large audiences. This has helped change mindsets of many people in these societies. The contribution by women to socio-economic prosperity is taken more positively in some countries in the region. However, it is still an issue of concern that women are not properly represented in key economic sectors of many Arab states.
Female journalists and other women are not able to achieve their potential in areas that are dominated by patriarchal ideals. Many are societies are dominated by masculine ideals. This makes it difficult for women to represent their views and issues in public areas because they do not have a strong voice that allows them to challenge the status quo. This topic was chosen for this study because media plays a crucial role in the advancement of any society.
Therefore, this study intends to open up the issue of female journalists in Arab societies and what they face as they perform their duties. This paper will critically analyze the contributions made by Arab women working in different media companies and how they have managed to highlight different issues in societies where they live. The research will gather information about their work experiences and other issues that have an impact on their lives in different countries.
The past decade has seen rapid technological developments which have improved how journalists gather and disseminate news and features. These technologies have made it possible for women to participate more in covering and bringing news items and other current affairs issues to the public.
It is worth noting that more women have been hired as news reporters, editors, camera operators and script writers, which has managed to change perceptions about the role of women in Arab societies (Sakr, 2004, p. 67). These women are among the first generation of Arab women who have managed to counter negative stereotypes to succeed as female journalists in a hostile environment.
They have managed to challenge gender stereotypes that have served as barriers to women empowerment in different Arab societies. This paper will examine how the increasing numbers of women in Arab media has improved the way women are perceived in these societies. The paper will also provide a critical analysis of challenges female journalists face in Arab societies.
Literature Review
There has been an increase in the number of satellite channels that broadcast mainly to Arab audiences. These satellite channels broadcast different types of content to Arab and other international viewers spread in different parts of the globe.
The Qatar based satellite TV news channel, Al Jazeera, is a popular news channel watched in different parts of the world. The station which was launched in 1996 has managed to capture various political issues in the Middle East and other parts of the world from a different perspective (Sakr and Zayani, 2005, p. 63).
This has helped it gain favorable ratings among different types of audiences because it differs from CNN which covers news with a Western slant. The station owned by the Qatari government has set a high standard for gender representation in the media. The station has many female journalists who are spread in different areas of the world. Its coverage has broken many taboo subjects in the region which are shunned by mainstream media stations.
Al Jazeera was among the first Pan-Arab news channels that launched a talk show to debate women issues. The show demystified the role of women in Arab societies and brought out issues they were facing in the open. Respectable women from different fields would engage with each other on social, economic and political issues that affect them.
However, the show was later removed from the station without any reason being given. Sakr (2007) reveals that the English segment of the station, Al Jazeera international has a show targeting female viewers from different parts of the world (p. 113). These programs have female moderators who are able to engage with viewers easily and this encourages more people to share their opinions. These shows make it possible for women to challenge existing stereotypes that are used by different segments of the society to keep them down.
Lebanon is one of the most liberal countries in the Middle East because it was the first state to in the region to allow female journalists to broadcast different types of content to various audiences. Lebanese female journalists present morning shows, fitness programs and news to different audiences in the country. However, there is a concern that some female journalists are not valued as professionals. Some critics have argued that these women are used to increase program ratings because male audiences are interested in female faces.
Therefore, sexist attitudes still dominate the society and influence how people think about female journalists. These stations need to be lauded for taking bold and positive steps to include female broadcasters in their fold, which helped change the mindsets of many male viewers (Jiyad, 2011, p. 93). There is a possibility that the cosmopolitan nature of the Lebanese population has made it possible for female broadcasters to be accepted by many in the country.
The increase in numbers of Arab women in media is a positive step towards gender equality in the Middle East. This makes it possible for women issues which are publicized through the media to be taken more seriously. McNair (2006) argues that leading Arab female journalists have become more influential just like their male counterparts (p. 86).
They have managed to bring peoples’ attention to various issues that affect people from all walks of life in the region. They have been able to highlight contemporary political issues that face people in different countries and this has earned them respect from both male and female audiences. For instance, the conflict between Israel and Lebanon in 2006 gave female journalists in Lebanon an opportunity to probe the genesis of the conflict and its impact on people living in the country.
These female journalists were able to display how mothers and their children who had sought refuge in humanitarian caps were suffering. They managed to endear themselves to the viewers because they delved deeper and brought out issues that affected common people.
However, female journalists in Arab countries continue to face challenges resulting from conservative laws that discriminate against them. In the recent past, Sudanese and Saudi Arabian authorities have displayed increasing intolerance towards female broadcasters and reporters.
Some hard-line Islamic clerics in Saudi Arabia have called for women to be banned from appearing on TV because they encourage immorality and decadence. This shows that religious doctrines are applied selectively in some countries to limit women’s involvement in crucial issues in their societies.
However, this is not surprising because Saudi Arabia has some of the worst laws that discriminate against women in many spheres of life (McNair, 2006, p. 103). This reverses the gains women have made because they are targeted by extremist Islamic groups which advocate against women empowerment. The clerics’ excuse that women encourage obscenity in the mainstream media does not hold weight because female journalists report mostly on socio- political issues which affect both men and women.
Female journalists also face discrimination when career opportunities for advancement open up. In conservative states like Saudi Arabia, they are not allowed to attend press conferences because all women are prohibited from driving. They also have to adhere to strict dress codes that make it difficult for them to perform their duties properly. The media in the country is dominated by masculine ideals which make it difficult for female journalists to get career advancement opportunities (Al Mahadin, 2011, p. 9).
The sexist stereotypes that are perpetuated by many people in Arab societies hinder women from realizing their true potential. These stereotypes have become barriers to female journalists who have to work twice as hard as their male counterparts to succeed in their careers. There is a lot of rigidity regarding how women are perceived in these societies. These sexist attitudes make it difficult for women journalists to be taken seriously by conservative viewers and readers in these societies.
Female journalists need to challenge the existing status quo to ensure that they are given the respect they deserve for what they do. The Sudanese government was condemned for the way it treated a female journalist who had been sentenced to receive several lashes because she had violated morality laws in the country.
This shows that female journalists working in different Arab countries have to endure a lot of discrimination as they perform their work. Other female journalists have paid the ultimate price for their dedication and willingness to cover various current affairs issues in their societies.
Al- Malki, Kaufer, and Ishizaki (2012) state that some female journalists have been injured or killed in several conflict-ridden areas such as Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt (p. 122). Some of them have been targeted by extremist militant groups which have unleashed violent attacks against them. The hostility directed towards female journalists has made it difficult for press freedoms to be observed in many Arab countries.
Arab women need to be more involved in different affairs in their societies to bring about social, political and economic changes they desire. They need to advocate for more equal opportunities in societies where they live to counter negative stereotypes that are used to discriminate against them.
However, more women have become aware of their rights and some have challenged existing prejudices that bar them from accessing equal opportunities in their societies. Women are not well represented in many professions and this makes it difficult for female journalists working in Arab countries to succeed.
For instance, many female politicians find it difficult to enter parliament because of rigid gender roles that make men turn against any woman who chooses to contest for any seat in political elections. They are denied adequate media coverage in their campaigns which makes it difficult for them to sell their agendas to the public (Carilli & Campbell, 2012, p. 56). In essence, this makes it difficult for women to get elected into legislative positions and as such, they cannot change laws that deny them opportunities to enjoy their freedoms.
Religion influences a lot of political, social and economic issues in many Arab countries. The influence of political Islam has made it difficult for female journalists to be accepted in many Arab countries. They are judged through sexist stereotypes that display women as sex objects and inferior to men. Ayish (2010) states that different media stations focus more on women’s traditional roles of mothers and wives but do not show them as successful experts in different fields (p. 196).
This makes it difficult for female journalists to be taken seriously in these countries because women are not seen as charismatic individuals who are able to succeed on their own without the help of men. Many women are not thought of as professionals because in many countries in the region, there are fewer women who are employed compared to men. This shows that women are rarely given an opportunity to express their personality and this makes it difficult for them to achieve their dreams.
Talk shows on radio and TV do not give women positive publicity to speak on various issues that affect the society. Some of these talk shows are moderated by female journalists but a large number of professionals who are featured on these shows are male. The male experts chosen are successful entrepreneurs, politicians, sportsmen and lawyers who are well known in their fields. Therefore, women who have excelled in different fields are not invited to give their expert opinions on a wide range of issues by mainstream media outlets.
Arab women are only shown as victims of disasters and domestic conflicts (Mellor, Rinnawi, Dajani, & Ayish, 2011, p. 72). This has reinforced negative perceptions in the society that Arab women are not capable of achieving anything professionally, which degrades their status. This makes women to be typecast as dormant and laid back whose status does not allow them to compete with men for attention.
Social media platforms have made more people interact, which has brought to the fore the issue of women’s rights in several Arab countries. It has changed existing stereotypes about the value of women and the roles they are expected to play. This has made it possible for female journalists to break social barriers that make it difficult for them to perform their duties more effectively.
Mellor, Rinnawi, Dajani and Ayish, (2011) reveal that social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter have played a crucial role in empowerment women in many Arab countries (p. 112). It is estimated that a third of Facebook users in Arab countries are women and this makes it possible for them to interact and share their experiences on how they can improve their lives.
There is also an increase in the number of feminist activists who use social networks to advocate for political and social changes in their societies. The popularity of citizen journalism in the region has made it possible for female journalists and activists to change stereotypes that have existed in their societies for a long time. This made it possible for Tunisian, Egyptian and Syrian activists to rise up against their repressive regimes to demand changes in the way they are governed.
Methodology
A review of different literature was used to discuss how women in Arab societies are represented by different types of media. The research design focuses on experiences of Arab women who work in different media companies and how dominant attitudes that exist in their societies impact on their work.
The working conditions in these environments differ from other places and the research methodology seeks to uncover more information about how this affects female journalists. The study highlights media practices observed in different Arab societies to show their impact on journalists working there.
The literature review also analyses how different forms of legislation in various Arab countries affect the way female journalists perform their duties. It seeks to reveal how these laws affect freedom of the press and how this affects female journalists who seek to advance their societies. In essence, the literature analyses how gender balance in the press will improve the quality of life citizens live in various Arab countries.
The study will gather information from various female journalists to analyze what they go through as they perform their duties. Interviews and questionnaires will be used to gather information from female journalists working in various Arab countries to reveal what they go through as they perform their duties.
The study will gather information from these interviewees to find out the level of freedom they are granted by their superiors and government authorities as they do their work. The study will also seek to get more information about their working environment and how it affects the way they perform their duties. The information gathered will be used to confirm the rationale of this study that female journalists working in Arab societies need to be given more freedoms.
This information will be used to establish whether women working for various media companies are discriminated against when career advancement opportunities open up. The study will also seek to find out if these women face any form of hostility or discrimination from their male colleagues at work and how this impacts on their performance.
Results and Findings
Yusra Abdulla, a female reporter for Khaleej Times in Yemen reveals that she has worked for the newspaper for the last three years and she has faced various difficulties in her work. She reveals that the working environment needs to be improved to enable more female journalists to succeed in their work.
She argues that common stereotypes act as barriers that make it difficult for women working in the media in the country to succeed. She reveals that common perceptions need to change to make it possible for female journalists to do their work. She also stated that female journalists in Arab countries are not taken seriously by male readers because of sexist stereotypes that exist. She cites this as one of the major obstacles which female journalists face as they perform their duties.
Fatuma Yusuf who works as an editor in the Saudi TV network of Saudi Arabia describes the environment she works under as hostile to female journalists. She reveals that even her male colleagues at work loathe her openly in the newsroom. She reveals that the network’s superiors do not feel comfortable whenever she raises her views on different work processes and how they can be improved. She also reveals that she was assigned a desk job to limit her movements and to ensure she does not go for press conferences.
However, she observes that this situation is replicated in many sectors of the economy in the country where women are not adequately represented. She insists that the country needs to improve its laws to make it possible for women to achieve their full potential. She observes that women need to challenge common stereotypes in the society to help them overcome discriminative laws that limit their advancement.
Layla Kirshaff who works in Lebanon as a freelance media consultant argues that the environment in which she works under is liberal and allows her to use her skills to improve the way she performs her duties. She reveals that her working environment is not discriminative because Lebanon is a multicultural country that encourages freedom of expression. She takes the view that multiculturalism has made it possible for female journalists to work easily in an environment free of prejudices and threats.
She also argues that journalism in the country has undergone a lot of achievements in the last twenty years. She reveals that she worked for a television station in the country as a newscaster and she was given enough support to interview different types of guests. However, she insists that more women need to be active in the media and other economic sectors in the Arab world to enable the region advance socially and economically.
Conclusions and Summary
Arab governments need to allow women to get more involved in the media to help them achieve desired levels of prosperity. They need to encourage them to participate more in public debates regarding various issues that face them in societies they live. Active women participation in the media is crucial for these societies to be at par with other regions in the world. Arab countries need to put in place programs that change dominant stereotypes that have been used to subjugate women in different societies.
They need to encourage all citizens to be more educated to ensure that negative stereotypes are eradicated in the society. This will make it possible for female journalists to perform their duties in an environment that is more open and accommodating. Women journalists need to use emerging technologies to bring out stories that affect all people in different Arab societies. This will make it possible for them to achieve more publicity in their countries.
References
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