RUNNING HEAD: THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN ARAB MEDIA

The Role of Women in Arab Media: A Deeper Insight through Saudi Television and Electronic Media Dana McGrath Queens University of Charlotte

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Abstract This essay seeks to explore the relationship between the role of women in Saudi Arabia and their use of television and electronic media for representation and influence in Saudi society. The essay details the background information involved in the role of women in Arab society and focuses more deeply afterward upon the use of television and electronic media in womens plight for representation and influence. A contradiction between tradition and democratic belief are discussed and the essay concludes with a reflection upon main points of interest and common themes of the topics discussed.

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The Role of Women in Arab Media: A Deeper Insight through Saudi Television and Electronic Media Introduction Media play an important role in the formation of public opinion. Therefore, an exploration of the effects of media on public perception is an important issue in research. In an attempt to understand the effects of media in other parts of the world, the Western researcher must aim to separate him or herself from Western biases and create an objective goal toward the gathering of information. In research concerning the media of the Middle East, a Western researcher must take careful care not to incorporate the negative perceptions that have arisen, especially in the United States, in regards to the terrorist events of 9/11 and long-held theories of negative ideology against the Arab culture. In a review of the role of women in media, much information must be gathered from reports and journals of communication research in order to fully understand the context of the issue. In an in-depth study of the norms and traditions of Saudi Arabian women in media society, a comparison is conducted in consideration of the changes that have been made in more recent development of Arab women media professionals and the representation of Saudi women in media. In recent years, the representation and influence of Arab women in Saudi Arabia have undergone many changes in regards to television and electronic media. Background At the Fourth World Conference of Women in 1995, it was concluded that women are universally represented unequally with unequal access to the media. This case is worsened for women in the Middle East, where freedom of expression and representation are difficult for most

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if not all individuals due to government restrictions (Miladi, 2010). In the Middle East, women are faced with a twofold battle. On the first hand, there is a strong negative stereotype in the Western perspective of womens status in the Middle East. Secondly, Arab women have traditionally been held in a culture of male dominance and submission (Halim & Meyes, 2010). Arab women are portrayed through a distorted lens by Western media outlets. Edward Saids European orientalist interpretation discusses the Western prejudice toward Arab society (Miladi, 2010). Saids study explains how the negative stereotypes and prejudices of the West toward the Arab culture originated from print media literature (Kaufer & Al-Malki, 2009). During the nineteenth and twenties centuries, the historians and writers of the time described in their work many messages that communicated a prejudice against the Arab culture. Writings of the oppressive attitude toward Arab women and their submission to this treatment fueled negative connotations to the status of Arab women (Miladi, 2010). It has been the custom for the West to associate Arab women with passive and oppressed characteristics (Kaufer & Al-Malki, 2009). Furthermore, Arab women in themselves refer to communal identities and core symbol labels such as family, public person and respect (Witteborn, 2004). A categorization of women is apparent as segregation of Arab women into their own social groups and organizations has developed (Le Renard, 2008). The long-held ideology of womens oppression and male dominance in the Arab world has been repeated throughout society and found itself affecting media. According to Miladi (2010), until the late 1990s, women in Arab media were found to be poorly served and represented. Since Saudi Arabia has had more media research than most in the Arab world, the role of women in Saudi media was thought to have the most availability of information regarding this topic (Al-Olayan & Karande, 2000). Even though research about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is more available than other Arab countries, it is still limited by the

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Saudi governments restrictions. Firstly, the Saudi government delivers a feeling of reluctance to companies of foreign nature or researchers that want to enter the Kingdom with the purpose of conducting research. Secondly, for those admitted into the country for research purposes, the Saudi government requires a strict set of guidelines for the researcher to follow and on which base all research activity. These restrictions add greatly to bias in the data. This is an interesting case, because, in Saudi Arabia particularly, the freedoms of individuals are more limited as the government takes a conservative approach to preserve the religion of Islam within the Saudi culture (Hudson & Swindel, 1988). Arab women in Saudi Arabia are presented with an even more interesting situation. In the Kingdom, there are immense efforts to maintain the traditional Saudi culture, but there are also aims to recognize women as valuable members of society (AlKahtani et. al., 2006). Saudi Arabia has a clash of patriarchal societal values and liberal market ideologies (Mellor, 2010a). With this paradoxical ideology in Saudi Arabia, many forward steps have been made toward equality, but also many backward steps have been made toward traditional unequal practices and beliefs. Analysis The role of women in Saudi television media The role of women in Saudi television media can be closely applied with the availability of employment in the media sector. Alsuwaigh (1989) describes the situation of socio-economic change in Saudi Arabia and how it contributes to the role of women. The discovery of oil clearly provided for an economic boom in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. So, the study aimed to find a comparison between the economic opportunities of two generations of Saudi women spanning three levels of socio-economic status within a given community. Although there were

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differences between social and cultural aspects of the women, such as their family structure, the style of marriage and the number of educated individuals, there was no relevant difference in the role of women in the traditional sense of Saudi culture. Also, the women in the younger generation still did not have a great amount of employment opportunities regardless of the economic stimulus of the discovery of oil (Alsuwaigh, 1989). Ayish (2010) describes the empowerment perspective, where Arab women are emerging from the private family life and becoming more visible in the community. Ideas of female empowerment as a re-distribution of power in Arab society and the progress of interaction between gender roles in society and legal and institutional reforms are also included in the article. The article concludes that female empowerment will lead to more opportunity in social and moral standards in the Arab world and will apply even outside the boundaries of the media workplace (Ayish, 2010). Changes were noted as women in Saudi Arabia began to pose as trendsetters (Kaufer & Al-Malki, 2009). Breaking against the stigma of the Western orientalist interpretation of Arab culture and Arab women, Saudi women in positions of social power were beginning to be portrayed in the media and in the social realm as individuals who were achieving important equalities for all women in the region. Even as the Western media represented Muslim women in general in weak, traditional roles, a greater impact was made by Saudi women, who were beginning to be shown as powerful individuals (Kaufer & Al-Malki, 2009). Sakr (2008) shares her views upon the subject in an analysis of the restrictions of Saudi women in the Kingdom, but how the current contradictions within the society are beginning to create a renegotiation for womens status (Sakr, 2008). Women are increasingly visible in the

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media, but their status in other aspects of social life in Saudi Arabia has not reached very high standards as of yet (Sakr, 2008). As the Saudi government works in a process of renegotiation for the status of all citizens, male and female, vis--vis government and the state, women may be opened to a greater amount of opportunities in media institutions (Sakr, 2008). However, if the current trends of this process continue, there will be a visibility for women in the media, that will be accompanied by rather little change in promotion for female media professionals to decision-making positions (Sakr, 2008). According to Mellor (2010b), the professional role of women in Saudi media began with womens magazines. These opportunities then transformed into broadcast journalism in television media. With the advent of satellite television, women were able to gain employment opportunity as television presenters and a process of empowerment for women and a process of change began (Mellor, 2010b). However, Mellor (2010b) doubts the viability of this

empowerment. The researcher does not believe wholeheartedly that Saudi media enabled womens presence due to actual change within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In fact, Mellor (2010b) realizes that a factor that could contribute to this change is the superficiality of female beauty, and not so much a genuine balance of women according to their status in Saudi Arabia (Mellor, 2010b). Mellor (2010a) discusses in another article her applaud, yet reservations, of the presence of women in the media. She agrees that a female in television media can reach a large, widespread audience. The female broadcast journalist can tell the story of the Arab woman in the midst of conflict and inequalities in the Arab world. This would pose as a strong asset to womens representation in the media (Mellor, 2010a). However, Mellor (2010a) also notes the fact that a beautiful face can attract the wealthy men of the Gulf and add to the amount of the networks audience. Mellor (2010a) goes on to discuss new opportunities that satellite television

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has provided for women and their representation and influence in the media. However, these opportunities cause issues to arise in the professional world with the emergence of female presenters on television. Within the workplace, women are faced with the sexual harassment and power struggles that translate from the traditional ideologies in the Saudi culture (Mellor, 2010a). There have been conflicts regarding this clash of traditional ideology and liberal recognition as a valuable member of society in Saudi Arabia. In regards to womens presence on television, there are two shows that have gained an amount of interest considering the spectrum of womens roles in Saudi television media. First, the Saudi Arabian reality show Star Academy, is broadcasted over the pan-Arab region (Kraidy, 2009). This reality show has caused much controversy due to its content. The show promotes aspects of Saudi women that are not considered acceptable under Saudi religious standards. Things such as womens agencycultural hybridity and individuating authenticity are some of the controversial themes (Kraidy, 2009). Secondly, Mellor (2010a) discusses the television show Igraas Beauty Queen, which broadcasts women as they compete based on their manners and obedience to Islamic laws in lieu of physical beauty (Mellor, 2010a). The role of women in Saudi electronic media When the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia opened the Internet to public use in 1999, Saudi audiences were quite receptive to the new medium of technology and communication (Samin, 2008). With 200,000 Saudi Internet users in the year 2000, that number jumped to 2,540,000 Saudi Internet users within six years a 1,170% change (Samin, 2008). In the Samin (2008) study, Internet bulletin boards were discovered to be of great significance as a

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new, popular medium of communication between disparate groups (Samin, 2008). The results of the study found that these groups would use the Internet bulletin boards as forums to discuss a variety of subjects ranging from intertribal marriage to the participation of women in the medium of the Internet. The discussion forums of Internet bulletin boards allowed for more freedom in the exchange of religious and political ideas (Samin, 2008). Samin (2008) notes how the Internet and the Internet bulletin boards are key windows into public discourse in relatively restrictive societies like Saudi Arabia (Samin, 2008). Salem (2010) focuses upon the aspect of women in power using new media technologies, such as the Internet and social media networks, to communicate. The article reviews the situation in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia and how female politicians can harness the new media technologies to break through social barriers and to gain visibility (Salem, 2010). However, this applies to countries other than Saudi Arabia, so it is important to zone into Internet use by Saudi women. An article by Al-Kahtani et. al. (2006) describes the relationship between Internet technology use and the female faculty of Saudi Arabia. Since, under the traditions of Saudi culture, women are restricted in regards to travel and interaction with other females, the Internet serves as a helpful tool for representation and influence in society. The study aims to discover how females think of the Internet in terms of potential for them to be able to contribute and become represented in Saudi society. The Internet was discovered to prove as a strong virtual tool to spread opinion and represent the female perspective (Al-Kahtani et. al, 2006). An interesting article was that written by Monteiro (2008) discussing the three blogs published by Arab women. The section which elaborates upon the Saudi blogger proved to be

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most helpful for this research than the other two, one from Egypt and the other from Jordan. The Saudi blog is by Aya and is entitled Alien memoirs (Monteiro, 2008). Monteiro (2008) describes how the Saudi blog did more to reference other blogs and websites about freedoms and human rights in Saudi Arabia than it did to analyze the Saudi government and events in the Kingdom. The research of this study noted that much Saudi political news is discussed in the Aya blog, but her views must be strongly affected by the violations of free expression imposed by the Saudi government. In fact, the article mentions a certain Saudi Eve blogger whose blog was blocked by the Saudi government and now Saudis and other readers must circumvent the block by receiving the Saudi Eve blog posts by e-mail (Monteiro, 2008). Monteiro (2008) recognizes the shame and anger of Aya in her blog posts, as she is frustrated with the fact that those who impose violations on her human rights and expressions as a citizen and as a woman are her own Saudi people (Monteiro, 2008). The female blogger Saudiwoman also uses electronic medium to address topics of her concern (Saudiwoman, 2011). The topic discussed in her April 3rd blog was that of the decree of the King of Saudi Arabia and his new conservative laws regarding the Kingdom. He issued decrees upon media criticism as well and gave absolute impunity to senior clerics council (Saudiwoman, 2011). The decree also included a ban on womens work as a cashier, and such employ for females is now banned by law. Saudiwoman reflected upon her involvement and knowledge of the Women & Development campaign in Saudi Arabia, a statement for the desire of the release of human rights activist Mikhlif Al Shammary, as well as a positive realization of the health and hopes for growth of the Saudi Women Revolution (Saudiwoman, 2011). Conclusion

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In my research, I have learned much about the contradictions with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that contribute to the affects upon the role of women in the television and electronic media. It is understandable how women would be universally represented unequally in society, but I did not realize the extent to which this factor is relevant. For there to be a need for world conferences for the rights of women that are truly human rights to be granted to all people, there are serious issues within modern day society (Miladi, 2010). The fact that we have gone so many years and still have not reached an equal ground is amazing. It is unclear whether the public or the media perpetuates this inequality. Perhaps it is society itself that forms the opinion and the media communicates such ideas because it is the common belief. People do mostly want to hear news that agrees with their own, but it is interesting how so much can be at a standstill due to this ignorance for social improvements. The inequality in the Middle East is truly a difficult subject to decipher. It would be necessary to assimilate more deeply into the understanding of the Islam religion as well as the levels of tolerance in Arab culture to better realize how inequality comes into play for women, and how the media either helps or hinders the plight of women for equality. I learned a very new concept being that of the European or Western orientalist interpretation of the Arab culture and society, especially toward that status of Arab women (Miladi, 2010). I have always accepted the ideologies of the Western culture, because that is all I have known. I never would have realized my opinions are based off of the one-sided stories of historians and political elites of the industrialized countries. The perception of Arab culture in the average American mind is not one of understanding and knowledge, but an acceptance of what we have been told by others. We have never been over to that region of the world, so it is impossible to understand what is actually happening on the ground. The articles can provide us with ample information, but how valuable is information if it is secondary? The

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most valuable information is primary, first-hand experience. The negative idea that Arab women are submissive and males dominate society cannot be applied to the entire population of the Middle East. It is not one entity, and each factor within each and every country, or even regions within those countries, has a different context of media and representation of individuals. Although the negative perceptions are perpetuated in part by the media, it is the public that does not shake these opinions and perceptions away and go on in search of the truth. A very interesting fact was that Arab women refer to themselves with communal identities as proposed by Witteborn (2004). I can understand the motherly aspect of being a woman, but I would think that women would also identify themselves with individual traits. I can grasp from my research how Arab women, in a traditional sense, would be more dedicated to familial themes because of the restrictions placed upon them. However, on top of the media perpetuating a negative stereotype, women are victimizing themselves and categorizing themselves into groups of women. There is no equality to be reached if the goal is to separate and distinguish women from men by creating these categorized groups. I can understand through my research of this topic why women would have witnessed a change in representation by the late 1990s, as proposed by Miladi (2010). With the advent of the new technologies that break through terrestrial borders and government censors, it is no wonder why women became more sufficiently served and represented through the media. A new fact I have learned from my research is that the Saudi media research is the most available (Al-Olayan & Karande, 2000). Due to the restrictions by the Saudi government, it would have more commonly been assumed there would be less research available to better understand the Saudi perspective of media influence. However, it does seem that researchers would be looking more toward what is against the norm and what type of research poses the challenges that may turn others away. Having the scoop on the most

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influential information would be a key aspect of research. I would also like to note the feeling of animosity that so many countries have against the United States. I realize it is an issue of disagreement with the U.S. foreign policy, but more so, why are so many countries intimidated by a Western influence? Preserving traditional culture is important, but what should not continue with the culture are the ages-old ideologies of inequality. Technology in the media moves forward with the printing press, television, the Internet and social media networks. So, why do the new ideas of equality and fair representation not follow along? Maintaining the traditional Saudi culture and attempting to recognize women as valuable members of society will also prove to be an issue (Mellor, 2010a). With factors such as womens travel restrictions governing the traditional Saudi culture, women will not be able to represent themselves to their fullest potential. They are reserved to the confines of their country, and cannot go out from the home to share their opinions (Al-Kahtani et. al, 2006). That is why the Internet and satellite television are such important factors in the role of Saudi women. With these traditional restrictions placed upon the women, the Internet and television provide them with virtual tools of travel and information to represent their personal opinions and viewpoints on what is going on in the world. With respect to the research of womens role in television media, the Alsuwaigh (1989) article proved that socio-economic factors were not responsible for the inequalities in employment for women. The situation in pre-oil-discovery in Saudi Arabia did not differ significantly enough with the post-oil-discovery. The increase of wealth did attribute with beneficial factors for the Kingdom, but none of which pertained to the employment of women in media institutions. One would think the boost in economy would open opportunities in all aspects of employment for all people. Since the United States is in recession and employment is suffering, it is not very comforting to hear that socio-economic factors do not contribute to the

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employment availability. However, this could have only been a case in Saudi Arabia due to the social inequalities in place in reflection of strict cultural rules as regulated by the Saudi government. A common theme in the research surrounds the idea that the visibility of women in the media does not necessarily correlate with actual social change within Saudi Arabia (Sakr, 2008). The presence of women on screen to attract viewers seems like more of a superficial insult than does being excluded from television media in general. The fact that the role of women on the two television shows, Igraas Beauty Queen and Star Academy further proved this idea and also supported the paradoxical situation of Saudi Arabia (Mellor, 2010b; Kraidy, 2009). While attempting to maintain the Saudi culture, the show of women competing in accordance to their manners and the obedience to the Islamic laws would fully support the traditional ideologies. On the other hand, a show that demonstrates the decision-making abilities and agencies of women would follow along with the liberal ideologies. So, there is no satisfying all people when it comes to television programs. People can choose what they want to watch, whether it include women or not include women. There are a plethora of choices on satellite networks; so, on top of the Saudi culture and social equality contradiction, there is the overlying competition to attract an audience. In regards to the role of women in electronic media, it was interesting to find that women, especially Saudi women, are so willing to become participants in the use of the Internet. From this research, I have gathered an idea that the more someone is restricted from accessing a certain medium, the more ravenous, in a figurative sense, that individual would be when he or she is finally granted access. People who are given whatever they want end up taking things for granted. Those who need to fight for what they would like to have, or things that are taken from

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them, have a much deeper feeling for gratefulness and make much better use out of that medium. It is amazing how much Americans take the accessibility of electronics and technology for granted. As a citizen of such a free and powerful country, it is almost shameful that Americans waste the immensely influential tools that are at our disposal. The topics discussed in the Saudiwoman blog were of substance to the writer. Just as the information in the blog for the Aya posts, the topics that the bloggers discuss are of great importance to both themselves and to their readers. A common theme in the research of the use of electronic medium surround the idea that some women are even brave enough to put themselves and their opinions out where the world can see them. It takes a strong individual to post such deep feelings at the risk of being attacked by a disagreeable comment or the fear of being blocked or captured. There must be ways of tracking the whereabouts of the user and the computer that is transmitting all of the activist messages. Also, when we think of activism in the United States it is more so for environmental or humanitarian projects such as saving trees and recycling or donating money so puppies will not be tested as lab rats in a cosmetic manufacturing company. Even then, people may or may not post their opinions about certain activist activities on Facebook or Twitter and go on with their day. It is understandable from this research that the Arab population living in restrictive countries such as Saudi Arabia is very passionate in what goes on in their lives and what will happen in the future, and use of the Internet is a key tool in communicating such passions for change and representation. Women are emotional and passionate anyway, so on top of being female, an Arab woman has even more passion off of which to build her opinions. In conclusion, with such contradictions within the governing body in regards to womens influence and representation, the media can only do so much to improve the status of women in

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the Saudi Arabia. Although Western media should make more of an effort to avoid the transmission of orientalist ideologies, the Middle Eastern countries and Arab women will not meet success with the continued adoptions of current standards of citizenship and human rights.

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Mellor, N. (2010b). 'More than a Parrot' - The Case of Saudi Women Journalists. Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research, 3(3), 207-222. doi:10.1386/jammr.3.3.207_1 Miladi, N. (2010). Arab women journalists dismantling the stereotypes. Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research, 3(3), 145-150. doi:10.1386/jammr.3.3.145_2 Monteiro, B. G. (2008). Blogs and female expression in the Middle East. Media Development, 55(3), 47 53. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=363420e9-5b41 460b-a49c 7c1d5eba0b97%40sessionmgr112&vid=16&hid=106 Sakr, N. (2008). Women and Media in Saudi Arabia: Rhetoric, Reductionism and Realities. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 35(3), 385-404 doi:10.1080/13530190802525197 Salem, M. (2010). Media coverage of women in the Arab political sphere. Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research, 3(3), 177-189. doi:10.1386/jammr.3.3.177_1 Samin, N. (2008). Dynamics of Internet Use: Saudi Youth, Religious Minorities and Tribal Communities. Middle East Journal of Culture & Communication, 1(2), 197-215. doi:10.1163/187398608X335838 Saudiwoman. (2011, April 3). Going back in time. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://saudiwoman.wordpress.com/2011/04/03/going-back-in-time/ Witteborn, S. (2004). Of Being an Arab Woman Before and After September 11: The Enactment of Communal Identities in Talk. Howard Journal of Communications, 15(2), 83-98. doi:10.1080/10646170490448312