The representation(s) of Saudi women pre-driving era in local newspapers and magazines: a critical discourse analysis
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the online representation(s)
of Saudi women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with respect to the use of language functions. It aims to identify the particular ways in which Saudi women are represented, as well as the ideologies behind the style of representation, specifically focusing on the timeframe of pre-driving era. As a case study, 17 articles from Saudi newspapers and magazines published online between the 6th and 23rd of March 2016 (a time frame surrounding International Woman’s Day) were examined by using critical discourse analysis. Applying the analytical model of van Leeuwen’s 1993 framework reveals that Saudi women are depicted as active within Saudi society, driven by their beliefs yet they present themselves as independent members of the society. Their great attributes, achievements, and discoveries are often mentioned, praised, and appreciated in online texts.
However, there are some authors who claim that there is still room for improvement in terms of gender equality in Saudi society. In general, we found that online sources tend to be neutral in tackling women’s issues.
Introduction
Saudi women have been the centre of attention globally, and there have been tremendous changes in the Saudi society which has affected women’s status and experience as citizens and members of the society. One of the main indicators of these changes is the representation of Saudi Women (hereafter, SW) online, and especially in Saudi news websites. Therefore, it is important to describe those representations which reflect the way women are depicted by Saudi authors, who indirectly reflect the ideological underpinnings of the social change, especially that they publish their writings in outlets that are governed by higher political and social authorities. This paper focuses on the way SW are represented during the early reign of King Salman, which is of particular importance since it can be still described as a pre-driving era, yet it has underseen remarkable changes that have led to the current advances in the role of women, politically and socially.
Statement of the problem Saudi society, like other societies in which there are public feminist critics, has women’s right activists who address SW rights, gender equality, and other issues through their writings in Saudi newspapers and magazines. Due to sharp cultural differences, non-Islamic, Western societies in general perceive women in Saudi Arabia as oppressed and subordinated, with no rights.1 According to Guta and Karolak,2 women in the Middle East in general, and Saudi Arabia in particular, have been portrayed often in the Western media as passive and oppressed. Thus, examining the representation of SW in the media is a significant task, since it can reflect hidden Saudi ideologies, concepts, and beliefs in respect to SW.
Importance of the study
This paper is a contribution to the critical analysis of online Saudi newspaper and magazine articles representing SW during the reign of King Salman between the 6th and 23rd of March 2016 (a timeframe surrounding International Woman’s Day). It also reflects the intended ideologies behind these representations and contributes to an appraisal of the real status of SW in the current context, since the examined articles are written by Saudis. Consequently, it can also contribute culturally to the eradication of such
misinterpretations.
Purpose & research questions
This study is an attempt to identify the ways in which SW are represented in electronic media outlets in Saudi Arabia by examining a selected corpus of Saudi media coverage, chronologically linked to International Woman’s Day 2016. In other words, it aims to reveal how such social actors are represented in a large, modern society, by its members themselves. Also, it aims to identify the ideologies behind these representations of SW in the material being investigated. To achieve the goals of this study, the following questions
are addressed:
(1) From a CDA perspective, how are Saudi women are represented in Saudi local newspapers and magazines?
(2) What are the ideologies behind these representations?
