Media representations of the hijab - Julie Posetti, University of Canberra
Australian perspectives
The representation of Muslim women in the media is regarded as a problem
by
Muslim Australians.
… the absence of Muslim women in the coverage of Islam and Muslims
is as
striking as it is unjust. The capacity and role of Muslim women exceeds
comments on the hijab or issues of gender oppression. It is crucial
that
women’s expertise be recognised in all matters relating to Islam
and their
contribution should be sought beyond the “women’s perspective”
approach.
Until the role of women is acknowledged, it will not be possible to
understand
Muslims or Islam. (IWWC, 2005)
The media guide to reporting Islam and Muslims produced by the Islamic
Women’s
Welfare Council of Victoria identified seven characteristics of concern
about the
portrayal of Muslims:
- A constant association between Islam, Muslims and conflict/violence,
particularly since September 11;
- The frequent identification of race/religion when the story is about
individuals
of Islamic faith. In many instances such references are not relevant
to the story
and run counter to journalistic codes of conduct;
- The stereotypical representation of women as veiled, even though a
significant
number of Muslim women do not use any form of veiling. Muslim women
are
typically portrayed as submissive, oppressed and abused. Similarly,
Muslim
men are regularly portrayed as bearded, although the majority are not.
The
representation of Muslim men in the media typically runs a narrow gamut
from
conservatism, misogyny and violence to militancy and terrorism. In general,
Muslims appear to be portrayed exclusively through their religion as
a one-
dimensional identity (e.g. portrayed as kneeling in prayer, hijab issues,
halal
food), and are otherwise largely invisible in the media;
- Absence of Muslims in the media as speakers on issues of concern
and their
relative absence as experts, even on issues in which Muslims might be
actively
involved. Connected to this is the overuse of key organisations or public
figures on all issues about Islam, even when those individuals/organisations
do
not necessarily have sufficient expertise on the issue in question;
- The diversity of Muslim life is not adequately represented. This
includes issues
of sectarian and ethnic diversity, but also diversity in ideology and
other forms
of political affiliation;
- Inaccurate reporting. There have been numerous instances in which
communities have been frustrated by the misinformation or misrepresentation
of issues associated with them. Some of these instances have been minor,
but
others have been quite significant.
- Muslims and Islam appear in the media only to the extent that they
are
assumed to be of interest to a non-Muslim audience, whether as a threat,
an
object of concern or an object of exotic interest and curiosity. Further,
Muslims
in the media are typically required to act in their own defence, to
respond to
and often apologise for issues put on the agenda by mainstream media.
Very
rarely are they represented in their own terms as presenting issues
and stories
that most concern them.
The impact of media coverage of Muslim Australians is also being felt among school
children. A study of Victorian secondary school students in years 10 and 11 found
that most view Muslims as terrorists and a third believe they are "unclean" (Leung,
2006). Waleed Aly from the Islamic Council of Victoria described the results as
troubling:
What it demonstrates is that Muslims are being viewed in a way that is really
subhuman . The only way you can combat this kind of prejudice is on a
personal level - it's much harder to hate people when you actually know
someone in that social group. (ibid)
And this may mean a need for participatory journalism or advocacy journalism
from well informed reporters with cultural connections to or at least
excellent contacts within Muslim communities – these are issues
the author intends to explore further. But early results from qualitative
research underway on this issue indicate this is a perspective favoured
by Muslim women. As part of her PhD studies on the representation of Muslim
women by the Australian news media, the author has conducted preliminary
interviews with four Muslim women of differing ethnic backgrounds and
divergent opinion on the significance of the hijab and all expressed concern
about the way Muslim women are portrayed and the disconnection of journalists
from their collective experiences. The comments of one woman in particular,
Sarah Malik, a recent journalism-law graduate from the University of Technology
in Sydney are pertinent to this case study.
Malik wore the hijab throughout most of 2005 as an expression of her
developing faith, and she says many of her friends were shocked by her
decision. She was one of a growing number of young Muslim women seeking
to express their faith externally in this way, often at significant social
cost and in contravention of their parents’ wishes. She decided
to remove the hijab after forming the view that she had learned to overcome
her fear about being publicly identifiable as a Muslim.
And she blames her pre-existing fear of being a recognisable Muslim woman
in a hijab in part on the media’s portrayal of Muslim women. “You
feel defined by representations you see in the media … it affects
your self-esteem” (ibid) and “that’s why (as a journalist)
you need to be responsible. Not uncritical, but sensitive”. (Posetti,
2006)
Malik has particular insight into the issue of media representations of
Muslim women and ways by which reporting standards can be improved:
. It's about exposure - it's weird because I'm the media and I'm Muslim. Muslims need to get into the media and help demystify the situation . there aren't many good Muslim spokespeople . it's actually hard for journalists to get the right information . there's so much crazy stuff out there. (ibid)
And she has some simple advice for non-Muslim journalists: “Make
a Muslim friend … be open minded and take the time to talk to people
and really understand them … it’s like knock and you will
find.” (ibid)
If Ms Malik succeeds in breaking into the mainstream media she will be
one of the very few practitioners identifying as Muslims in that realm.
(Forde, S 2005). As noted by Green, an increase in ethnic diversity within
newsrooms may assist the development of more balanced and informed reporting
on issues affecting and involving minority groups, such as the hijab debates.
“This is not tokenism or political correctness. This is about good
journalism”. (Green, K 2004)
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