"Feminine identity has always been complicated by race and class in South Africa. The history of beauty pageants, like sporting contests, demonstrates the extent to which culture and contemporary politics intertwine. Examining the cover model choices of women’s magazines offers a fruitful means of
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tracking the complex interplay between beauty, power and politics. This paper explores cultural endorsements of femininity as they are represented on the covers of one of South Africa’s oldest women’s magazines. Using a content analysis of the covers of Fairlady from 1985 to 2005 the paper asks questions about how Fairlady mediated ideas about beauty, race, gender and nationhood in recent history. The paper reveals the essential role of the popular media in communicating the values of Nelson Mandela’s Rainbow Nation. It finds that this role is highly contradictory, however, and the representation of women is shaped by socio-political and cultural shifts and racialised discourses of beauty, often linked to other cultural industries. The paper argues that this ambiguous relationship to the political transition is partly a result of the inherently racist structures of globalised consumer culture, which have an ever-greater influence on the choice of cover model in the post-apartheid period." (Abstract)
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"Maestri and Profanter highlight that the methodological approaches adopted in this volume are both interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary. Focusing on the changing relationship between the dynamics of Arab communication spaces and the role of Arab women both in and through the media, the introduct
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ion reveals the editors’ ambitious task to link a series of chapters reflecting applied research on highly sensitive and pivotal issues. The influence of new technologies and feminism is seen as an important historical determinant of the human development process in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Maestri and Profanter highlight the rise of new convergences between secular and Islamic aspirations in the Arab female world and in their media and cyberspheres, where education is confirmed as a vehicle of mutual respect." (Extract)
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"The frequencies of female leaders being sourced in the news were far lower than those of male leaders, especially in the government sector. This demonstrates that female leaders are disappointingly under-represented in the news despite their contribution and participation in the workforce. Female l
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eaders’ invisibility in news content is an indication that their voices and perspectives are not adequately presented. It sends messages to audiences that female leaders do not usually have the authority or do not qualify to be in positions with authority to be in the media spotlight. The news media perpetuate gender stereotypes against female leaders by setting the boundary of work areas that are supposedly more suitable to their femininity through their use of sources. Female sources were sought out more often for news stories on traditionally feminine issues (e.g. children/family, women’s rights, health, poverty reduction, or elderly people). They were almost absent in areas/issues that are often weighted more heavily in the government’s administration, including military/security, real estate; economics; international relations, science and technology, etc. In addition, the news media have contributed to creating and perpetuating stereotypes of what a successful woman should look like in the contemporary Vietnamese society. That is: Only those female leaders who can handle their dual roles and responsibilities both in families as traditional women and in the workplace as modern women are considered ideal. There is a disconnect between journalists’ general perception of gender equality and their attitudes toward female leadership. Journalists perceive that men and women should be treated equally both at home and at work, and that gender inequality is still an issue that Vietnam needs to continue to improve. But they also believe men have traits (e.g. decisive, competitive, etc.) that are congruent to those of leaders, while women do not have qualities to lead." (Executive summary)
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"In a democratic political system, the media is often entrusted with the responsibility of guarding the rights of the people. As such, it is essential to critically look at its role and functions in our present socio-political context. This book represents a comprehensive analysis of the following c
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ore issues: the role of the media in educating, protecting and promoting human rights; the challenges facing the media and human rights; human rights reporting and coverage; and the media’s role during violations of human rights, especially with regards to women. The book also contains suggestions and measures to increase awareness on human rights. Furthermore, it discusses the existing discourse of human rights and the media in India, Nepal and Bangladesh." (Publisher description)
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"Evidence from the study reveals that the visibility of women (candidates or voters) during coverage of the 2016 general elections in Uganda was significantly low relative to that of men, not only in terms of being read about or being heard, but also being seen in pictures. The study findings show t
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hat the representation of women as news subjects was only 20% as opposed to 80% for men; emanating from the study also is that there is a direct linkage between one’s status in Ugandan society – sex, occupation, and family status – and the likelihood of being covered in election related stories and providing additional information, in the case of the role, news subjects or the source play in the news stories." (Executive summary)
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"En 2015 los medios de comunicación registraron 286 femicidios. Entre ellos, 86 de las víctimas tenían entre 19 y 30 años y 39 eran adolescentes de entre 13 y 18 años. Resulta interesante analizar la contradicción entre la hipersexualización de niñas y adolescentes en el discurso y las imág
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enes habituales de los medios, el modelo de mujer que se les impone y el tratamiento posterior que reciben al ser víctimas de agresiones en las que suelen surgir diversos estereotipos. Con frecuencia el modo en que iban vestidas, por ejemplo, se puede transformar en un justificativo de lo que les ocurrió. Esto fue el disparador por el que decidimos centrarnos en este monitoreo en las adolescentes [...] Parafraseando un reclamo feminista, los medios insisten en enseñarles a las mujeres cómo deben comportarse y vestirse si no quieren ser violadas o atacadas de alguna otra forma, en lugar de condenar los comportamientos de los varones violentos y enseñarles a éstos que la violencia contra las mujeres no tiene lugar en nuestra sociedad." (Conclusiones, página 48)
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"Desde a sua criação em 2012, o Programa Para Fortalecimento da Mídia (MSP) documenta anualmente a cobertura das temáticas relacionadas com Género, Violência Baseada no Género (VBG) e Tráfi co de Pessoas, na mídia moçambicana. Os dados colhidos ao longo destes anos mostram que estas quest
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es vêm conquistando cada vez mais espaço na mídia. O número de matérias publicadas nos jornais analisados tem-se multiplicado rapidamente. Este avanço refl ecte, não apenas a crescente preocupação dos jornalistas com as temáticas, mas também o comprometimento das organizações com o envolvimento da mídia na prevenção e no combate à VBG e questões afins. Se, por um lado, se registam avanços quantitativos, por outro, a qualidade das matérias ainda está aquém do desejável. De acordo com o MCAT, para o ano de 2015, a média global das matérias analisadas situa-se em 70%, 2,35% abaixo da do ano passado. Ao contrário do que testemunhámos nos anos anteriores, houve um declínio em 3 das 4 categorias analisadas pelo MCAT, designadamente fontes, estrutura e relevância. Em geral, a mídia tem pautado por uma abordagem sensacionalista, que prejudica o combate à VBG." (Apresentação)
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"With its emphasis on the lives and interests of upper-middle-class women who live out the success of the African dream, 'Society' [a miniseries aired in 2007 on SABC television channel] has been compared to the HBO drama 'Sex and the City' (1998-2004), with its portrayal of conspicious consumption
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and highly sexualised representations (Brown 2009). Yet, as a show populated almost solely by black women, and incorporating the particularities of the South African context beyond its glamorous setting in Johannesburg, 'Society' offers a unique perspective on the feminine possibilities available to women in post-apartheid South Africa." (Page 280)
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"Los estereotipos que de la mujer andina se tienen a partir de los programas de humor de la TV peruana son negativos básicamente por la fisonomía física (en general, poco atractiva, descuidada y hasta sucia) y la fisonomía intelectual (habilidad y entendimiento limitados, instrucción baja o nul
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a, etc.) que de ella (s) se hace. Aboga en su favor su fisonomía moral con importantes valores positivos (bondad, solidaridad, simpatía) más que negativos (dependencia, vulnerabilidad, agresividad) y su correspondencia a la normativa social (lo que la sociedad esperaría de ellas como mujeres) se devanea dependiendo la situación entre la concordancia (la más de las veces) y la discordancia (las menos), sumando conflictividad a los personajes." (Conclusiones, página 47)
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"Although in the decade 1995 to 2005 there was a slow but steady increase in women’s visibility in the news, the decade 2005 to 2015 has been one of stagnation. At 24% of the total, there has been no change in women’s share of news-making roles in the traditional media (newspapers, radio, televi
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sion) since 2010, and indeed almost none since 2005 when women were 23% of newsmakers. The new digital media (Internet and Twitter news) offer little comfort. Here too, women were only 26% of people in the news in 2015. Across all media, women were the central focus of just 10% of news stories – exactly the same figure as in 2000. Since 2005 the percentage of stories reported by women has been static at 37%, and there has been almost no movement in the proportion of news that challenges gender stereotypes – just 4% of the total in 2015." (Foreword, page 1)
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