A good likeness

Radio, television, the print press and new communication technologies: are the mass media forgetting half the population? On International Women's Day, Reem Leila inquires
Are women about to change the traditional image portraying them as eager brides and diligent housewives?
Women in Egypt generally work in male- dominated environments, and the media are no exception. Many journalists are women, and have been for most of Egypt's long press history, but few women hold editorial and managerial positions, except in specialised magazines. Women seem to enjoy a better shot at the top in Television and Radio, where they have reached exceptionally high positions.
Media content, it often seems, reflects and perpetuates this patriarchal bias. Most recently -- but just one of many examples -- the immensely popular 'A'ilat Al-Hajj Metwalli (Hajj Metwalli's Family) portrayed polygamy approvingly on state-owned television -- all the more surprising since government efforts to improve "women's image in the media," spearheaded by the National Council for Women (NCW), have been so energetic of late.
The media, many experts say, help shape public opinion about women. Newspapers, television and radio in particular can carry a variety of messages and views on issues that affect women, and can portray women in different ways. When rural women are consistently shown as being naive and superstitious, for instance, this image both reflects the urban bias of media professionals and validates discriminatory stereotypes prevalent among non-rural Egyptians; it can also undermine the self-image of peasant women, and perpetuate their subordination within their families and societies.
Although the past decade has seen dramatic changes in the media, with local television and satellite channels proliferating, this transformation has yet to affect the content on offer. Women are still marginalised in most media, especially on TV. Programmes that target women tend to focus overwhelmingly on traditional concerns that, while by no means unworthy of interest, assume that all women are homemakers interested only in cooking, fashion, grooming and caring for their husbands and children.
The media have failed to keep pace with even more dramatic changes in society, and take stock of the new reality: that those women who would be interested exclusively in such material can obtain better quality from satellite stations or foreign magazines, while the default audience is made up of working women engaged in political, social and cultural life as well. Furthermore, most programmes and articles targeting women tend to focus on the problems that concern those of childbearing age, and neglect other groups. A recent study found a geographic bias too: only 2.3 per cent of articles on "women's issues" published in Egyptian newspapers and 2.5 per cent of those published in weekly magazines focused on women in rural areas, while issues of concern to Bedouin women are all but absent from the arena of discussion.
If women are at a relative advantage in media professions, it seems logical for them to use this platform to put forth problems and issues that concern women specifically. They are often the best placed to know what these issues are and, by virtue of their visibility and the access their job offers, can contribute to putting comprehensive development plans across to viewers. One way of achieving this goal is "through training sessions for media professionals to increase their awareness of women's issues and gender discrimination. It is crucial to convey a subtle yet meaningful message about women's role. Women can no longer be shown as just mindless bodies or commodities," says Mona El-Hadidi, professor at Cairo University's Faculty of Communication Studies.
Focusing exclusively on certain issues important to women is misleading as well as inaccurate, agrees Gaber Asfour, secretary- general of the Supreme Council for Culture (SCC), and head of the NCW's media committee. "Women are still marginalised in most of our media, although they are an integral part of society and their development leads to the development of society as a whole. All media should address rural, urban, and Bedouin women in the language each understands best. Open discussions of these issues in the media will help increase women's awareness, especially in rural areas where women may otherwise be isolated from public debate," he suggests.
The media, policymakers agree, have a social responsibility, and a role beyond entertainment: that of educating its audience. The media can play an important part in changing distorted, traditional views about women's status, by placing them within a broader social context and emphasising the disproportionate contribution women make.
In this context, some have called for increased government supervision of the media, to convey the state's message regarding gender equality more effectively. Gamal El- Sha'er, head of the Nile Cultural Channel, believes it is essential that the Ministry of Information establish a media watch unit to assess the effect of the media on society as a whole. Civil society, however, must also participate, he argues: "NGOs can provide the ministry with their opinions and suggestions." Only in this way, El-Sha'er believes, can the media overcome their tired "stereotyping of women as incomplete creatures and the emphasis they place on women as fragile, emotional, irrational, and sensitive creatures who always expect assistance and support from men."
Such a supervisory body would have to take a more proactive approach in some areas, where El-Sha'er notes that guidance or suggestion would be insufficient. For instance, "portraying women as sex objects should be totally prohibited," he opined. Furthermore, "there is no justification for the distance the media have kept from such controversial issues as the personal status law and the social causes of crimes committed by women." In other words, a media watch organisation would be engaged in supervision, prohibition and encouragement.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Iqbal Baraka, editor-in-chief of Hawaa, a women's magazine, states: "The media can never reflect the real status of women unless those currently in charge relinquish some of their control over the industry. A continuous dialogue between media professionals and all the authorities concerned with women's issues is essential," she adds.
"We should have effective media capable of delivering an accurate representation of women to society. We also need a society where women can participate side by side with men without discrimination and on equal footing. The basic problems facing us as women should concern all those who want a better future for Egypt," she declared. And that, it would seem, is what it boils down to: television, radio and the print press are, after all, part of the society that produces them. To improve "women's image," perhaps it is necessary to improve women's status first.
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