Gender Blindness in Mediascape: Analysis of the Burkini-bans' representation in the news media and readers' comments

Abstract

Media representations have always been seen as a site of power struggles. Often, media imbalances embody layers of meaning embedded in an ethnocentric notion of history of societies and depicting non-Western as subaltern identities. This research paper starts from a feminist constructionist and intersectional perspective to understand the values, beliefs and ideologies beneath narratives of journalistic texts and readers’ comments. We use as a case study the Portuguese mainstream media coverage of the burkini-bans in France and the readers’ comments, which were examined through critical thematic analysis. Not surprisingly, while the Portuguese news media seek neutrality, readers’ comments are overall highly fuelled by a variety of orientalist stereotypes against Muslim women. As equally significant, there is a lack of gender-based discussion in public conversations on this issue. Thus, the results reveal that the media landscape is far beyond challenging the status quo of the West’s hegemonic position towards women who are perceived as Others.