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The formation of the image of a particular culture or social class through the sphere of social media is a common trend in the modern digital space. The creation of stereotypes, biases, and fallacies is a negative consequence, but due to the prevalence of online communication and its accessibility, many people are ready to accept those ideas that are promoted. Regarding Saudi women who are discussed in both British and Saudi media, certain opinions have developed on the basis of religious, cultural and ideological aspects. These views are often associated with limitations and inequality, and human rights are discussed as an accompanying topic. This literature review is aimed at assessing the representation of Saudi women on social media. As a rule, various reports and articles are propaganda in nature, based on the condemnation of the target audience’s social life and calls for establishing the legal system of gender relations.
Religious Context
From a religious perspective, the representation of Saudi women in British media often reveals European condemning attitudes toward the Islamic order and laws. According to Al-Hejin (2015), one of the phrases that may be heard on BBC is “ghostly figures” when reporters describe Muslim women as submissive, silent and submissive (p. 35). In addition, the author notes that, based on the national survey, 69% of the UK population is confident that Islamic practices impose pressure on females and force them to be meek (Al-Hejin, 2015, p. 21).
Brown and Richards (2016) who also analyse Europeans’ perceptions of Saudi women support this view and argue that British stereotyped thinking reinforced by social media propaganda suggests a negative attitude towards conservative Islamic practices. According to the authors, in some BBC stories, Muslim women appear to be slaves without the right to choose (Brown & Richards, 2016). Consequently, the religious aspect is a significant background for the promotion of certain ideas.
Common Stereotypes
In addition to religion, some topics regarding Saudi women are actively discussed in social media. For instance, Harun, Ismail, Daoudi and Thompson (2018) focus on the issue of driving restrictions. According to the authors who analyse British and Saudi channels, “two news outlets have a different way of portraying the restriction of driving on Saudi women according to their political agendas and ideologies” with overt condemnation by the UK agency (Harun et al., 2018, p. 466). At the same time, the population in question does not have any limitations in digital communication, as many people believe. As Guta and Karolak (2015) state, Saudi women have many social media accounts and lead an active online life. Thus, many stereotypes are based on the opinions of individual news publishers rather than real facts.
News Language as a Propaganda Instrument
The ways of displaying news articles largely form the look of the target audience. Mustafa-Awad and Kirner-Ludwig (2017) remark that in Western press, the overwhelming majority of headlines where Saudi women appear serve as a means of influencing the rest of the population. The authors note that the words “protest” and “activism” are the most commonly used nouns in discussing certain issues (Mustafa-Awad & Kirner-Ludwig, 2017). Lida and Avoine (2016) support this idea and note that in Western news media, the victimisation of Saudi women is discussed much more often than in Eastern ones. News headlines and vocabulary as a whole largely influence this correlation.
Conclusion
Social media serves as powerful advocacy resources in the context of representing Saudi women, and negative background is a common phenomenon. The religious topic is constantly raised, but other issues are also addressed, which, thereby, intentionally victimises the audience in question. The vocabulary of news resources often involves inciting hot themes, and this is also evidence of bias and stereotypes supported by Western media publishers.
References
Al-Hejin, B. (2015). Covering Muslim women: Semantic macrostructures in BBC news. Discourse & Communication, 9(1), 19-46. Web.
Brown, L., & Richards, B. (2016). Media representations of Islam in Britain: A sojourner perspective. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 36(3), 350-363. Web.
Guta, H., & Karolak, M. (2015). Veiling and blogging: Social media as sites of identity negotiation and expression among Saudi women. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 16(2), 115-127.
Harun, F. N., Ismail, M. M., Daoudi, A., & Thompson, P. (2018). The driving restriction on Saudi women: Critical analysis of modality in Arabic online news discourse. Journal of Fatwa Management and Research, 466-487.
Lida, A., & Avoine, P. A. (2016). “Deviant” women in English Aarab Media: Comparing representation in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Reflexión Política, 18(36), 34-48.
Mustafa-Awad, Z., & Kirner-Ludwig, M. (2017). Arab women in news headlines during the Arab Spring: Image and perception in Germany. Discourse & Communication, 11(5), 515-538. Web.
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