The Veil has Fallen: Gender and Media Representations of Islam

Compelling images in international media delineate the connections and fractures that characterize the contemporary world. In this paper I analyse media representations of Islam in South Africa, the US and Britain, examining the recurring figures of the veiled Eastern woman and masked Eastern men. The paper attends particularly to the role of gender in shaping understandings of an Orientalist East, tracing patterns of imagery from the colonial era to their continued impact in the contemporary era. By attending to gender and history, the paper outlines a visual vocabulary through which the East has conventionally been pictured. The media theorist John Hartley (1996) claims that “journalism is the most important textual system in the worldÀ because, beyond providing information, it leads us to understand the world in particular ways. Significantly, despite the international reach of media organizations, the media still creates a sense of belonging drawn on national lines. Hartley argues that the media provide a “national, political fantasy”, and through it, a sense of community. Reading the media of different countries allows one to see who is inside and who is outside of these ‘fantasized’ communities. Gender provides a crucial category and method of analysis of such mediated ‘fantasies’. Because media representations calibrate gaps and emphases in public debates, they carry enormous power, especially during moments of social stress and conflict. By closely attending to the histories and impact of media imagery, as scholars I hope we may better be able to contribute to urgent current debates about human rights.

Publisher: Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Marriott Hotel, San Diego, CA, May 27, 2003
Year of Publication: 2003