Women Candidates and Arab Media: Challenging Conservatism in Bahraini Politics
Women have yet to enter to Bahrain’s parliament despite being permitted to run for some years. With its king promoting social and economic change, the media has portrayed positive images of Arab women as professionals against a backdrop of religious conservatism. The communications strategy adopted...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Westminster Press
2017-06-01
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| Series: | Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture |
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| Online Access: | https://www.westminsterpapers.org/article/id/169/ |
| _version_ | 1818589236223279104 |
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| author | Tarik Sabry |
| author_facet | Tarik Sabry |
| author_sort | Tarik Sabry |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Women have yet to enter to Bahrain’s parliament despite being permitted to run for some years. With its king promoting social and economic change, the media has portrayed positive images of Arab women as professionals against a backdrop of religious conservatism. The communications strategy adopted by some women candidates to attain election to parliament and the response of the local media are analysed utilizing content analysis. Despite some variation of coverage, the media in this Persian Gulf country were found to be fair to all women candidates and generally gender‐neutral. Although the women candidates who applied a well thought‐out communications strategy did better in media coverage and voting results, ultimately none were elected. This article explores the reasons for this failure in terms of Islamist religious interpretations of the role of women and Arab cultural conventions regarding family life. Finally, the authors speculate briefly about the prospects of political communications by women challenging Arab cultural conservatism in the future. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T09:37:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e680573ca4b4402e8a36ad7e14807031 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1744-6716 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T09:37:26Z |
| publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
| publisher | University of Westminster Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture |
| spelling | doaj.art-e680573ca4b4402e8a36ad7e148070312022-12-21T22:36:22ZengUniversity of Westminster PressWestminster Papers in Communication and Culture1744-67162017-06-018210.16997/wpcc.190Women Candidates and Arab Media: Challenging Conservatism in Bahraini PoliticsTarik Sabry0Communication and Media Research Institute University of WestminsterWomen have yet to enter to Bahrain’s parliament despite being permitted to run for some years. With its king promoting social and economic change, the media has portrayed positive images of Arab women as professionals against a backdrop of religious conservatism. The communications strategy adopted by some women candidates to attain election to parliament and the response of the local media are analysed utilizing content analysis. Despite some variation of coverage, the media in this Persian Gulf country were found to be fair to all women candidates and generally gender‐neutral. Although the women candidates who applied a well thought‐out communications strategy did better in media coverage and voting results, ultimately none were elected. This article explores the reasons for this failure in terms of Islamist religious interpretations of the role of women and Arab cultural conventions regarding family life. Finally, the authors speculate briefly about the prospects of political communications by women challenging Arab cultural conservatism in the future.https://www.westminsterpapers.org/article/id/169/women candidatesprint mediapolitical communicationIslamBahrainArab culture |
| spellingShingle | Tarik Sabry Women Candidates and Arab Media: Challenging Conservatism in Bahraini Politics Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture women candidates print media political communication Islam Bahrain Arab culture |
| title | Women Candidates and Arab Media: Challenging Conservatism in Bahraini Politics |
| title_full | Women Candidates and Arab Media: Challenging Conservatism in Bahraini Politics |
| title_fullStr | Women Candidates and Arab Media: Challenging Conservatism in Bahraini Politics |
| title_full_unstemmed | Women Candidates and Arab Media: Challenging Conservatism in Bahraini Politics |
| title_short | Women Candidates and Arab Media: Challenging Conservatism in Bahraini Politics |
| title_sort | women candidates and arab media challenging conservatism in bahraini politics |
| topic | women candidates print media political communication Islam Bahrain Arab culture |
| url | https://www.westminsterpapers.org/article/id/169/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tariksabry womencandidatesandarabmediachallengingconservatisminbahrainipolitics |