*Women in the 2011 Arab Media Forum*
Published on Muslimah Media
Watch<http://muslimahmediawatch.org/2011/05/women-in-the-2011-arab-media-forum/>|
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There was something quite exciting about this year's Arab Media
Forum<http://www.arabmediaforum.ae/en/home.aspx>(AMF), which recently
concluded in Dubai and was attended by over 2,000
media leaders from around the region. This year marked the tenth anniversary
of the forum, which has served as an annual platform for debating Arab media
issues and concerns for the past decade. In addition, almost all of this
year's panels have echoed ongoing transitions in the Arab world and their
implications for the media landscape. I thought many of the discussions
were highly stimulating when it came to the convergence of youth
demographics and new media in triggering the current unrest.
[image: Arab Media
Form]<http://muslimahmediawatch.org/2011/05/women-in-the-2011-arab-media-forum/amf-panel/>
Panel on Local Content in Arab Media, from the AMF's website.
There is ample evidence showing that women in this part of the world have
made impressive strides in a wide range of professions, including media. At
universities, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) female faculty members in media
and communication departments have been on the rise and so has their
integration into the media market. As a former student, at both the
American University of Sharjah and the University of Sharjah, I was fully
aware of the huge Emirati female attendance in communications programs at
undergraduate and graduate levels. In the media profession itself, there
are bright examples of GCC women serving as impressive role models for
females in the region. They have excelled in different fields: some in film
making, such as Emirati producer Naila Al Khaja<http://www.naylaalkhaja.com/>;
some have taken their achievement to global levels, such as foundation
director Muna Abu Sulayman <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muna_AbuSulayman>;
while others have emerged as powerful figures in social media and
cyberspace, such as Saudi writer Sabria Jawhar<http://saudiwriter.blogspot.com/>
.
Unfortunately, such presence seems to have made little showing in female
contributions to public discussions of media issues. Traditional research
has generally focused on female representation in media content and media
professions, but more attention needs also to be given to women's
contributions to public forums of media developments like AMF. What I found
most worrying about the event was the underrepresentation of female media
leaders and practitioners from the Gulf region in the AMF panels.
Of course, female contributions to the two-day forum were quite conspicuous
in the administrative details. As I headed towards the main hall at the
Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai, I saw a good number of Emirati ladies in black
abayas (the traditional black dress of local women) welcoming guests,
printing badges for AMF guests and speakers, and ushering and organizing the
seating of people attending workshops and sessions. With a smile and perfect
English, those young women presented a bright image of women in the United
Arab Emirates.
By working along with their male counterparts, those women are actually
changing traditional stereotypes about female roles in what many in the West
see as conservative societies. I spotted some cameras for international
television networks covering the event and was glad to see them capture
video of young Emirati women at work. This is extremely important for
rectifying incorrect perceptions about us here in the region, where
sustained development programs have brought about dramatic changes in
women's roles in their communities. Because the AMF is attended by media
practitioners from different parts of the world, they will be able to
witness on the ground how a woman in a conservative society is actively a
part of it.
But, again, since women in the Gulf have already made their way into the
media profession both as leaders and practitioners, their low-profile
contributions to public discussions of media issues needs to be
reconsidered. Though many women were working "behind the scenes" at the
2001 AMF, only a small number of women were on panels.* *
I was truly heartened to see two Emirati women making it to the AMF podium.
One of them is Dr. Rafia Ghubash<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafia_Ghubash>,
a renowned academic figure and former President of the Gulf University in
Bahrain. The other is Amina Al Ruhaimy, a student of mass communication at
the Higher Colleges of Technology in Dubai. Contributions from both ladies
were highly enriching for the AMF discussions, and on a larger scale, I
believe their presence was vital for the institution of a more positive
image of GCC women as leaders in their communities.
It is true that the Gulf region is a conservative area where women's issues
remain rather sensitive, and hence any change to their situation would come
out quite slowly. But we should not overlook the fact that GCC governments
have also done a lot to empower their female populations to engage in all
aspects of modern development, including media professions. As I
noted in another
article recently published in the Global Arab
Network<http://www.english.globalarabnetwork.com/2011050910906/Media/arab-women-bloggers-in-the-era-of-transitions-the-power-of-new-media-at-work.html>,
the current political transitions in the region are expected to augur well
for the condition of women across the Arab world, including the Gulf.
The introduction of social media tools, such as blogs, has proven to be
quite helpful for women seeking to reach out to wider audiences inside their
countries and beyond. Female engagement in the media sphere should always
remain a priority for women's development programs in the GCC region;
however, we need to push that engagement further by enhancing women's public
input into to how we debate media effects on our societies for decades to
come.
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