چکیده:
This paper is the outcome of a research project conducted to investigate the legal and political aspects of the Western media’s representation of Muslim women’s hijab. The important issue in representation of reality by the media is that they can never be considered a neutral tool، and an impartial mediator in presenting an image. Media rely on language and sense and within the framework of discourse these two always rely on power. Therefore، representation of events by the media، regardless of being moral and immoral، is of ideological bias and is in line with weakening or consolidation of a power source or a specific discourse. The findings of this study indicate that the Western media about Muslim women in their stereotyping attempts on hijab. They introduce Muslim women as a negative political and anti-women’s rights symbol.
خلاصه ماشینی:
Keywords Representation, Western media, Muslim women's hijab, content analysis, women's rights, political symbol -------------- (*) Faculty member of Islamic Azad University - Received date: 98/5/21 Approval date: 98/8/51 1) Introduction The presence of women with Islamic attire in various fields, following the Islamic Revolution of Iran and the increasing tendency of women toward hijab in Islamic countries—which signifies a return to religious identity among Muslim nations—caused one of the West's most important subjects in human rights issues to be dedicated to Muslim women and their rights.
The legal necessities of Western media (the influence of political officials and economic powers) cause the discourse, by presenting stereotypical perceptions, to convey a negative view of the hijab of Muslim women to audiences in two ways: as a violation of women's rights in Islam and Iran, and as a political symbol with a negative semantic load (violence, fundamentalism, and terrorism).
Content analysis of Western media regarding their way of representing the hijab shows that media messages related to the hijab and Islamic dress of women attribute two categories of personality traits to this phenomenon, and through its repeated reflection in media productions, it proceeds to reinforce the association of these traits with the hijab of Muslim women in global public opinion.
-------------- (1) Figaro (2) Tango Table 4- Frequency distribution of Western media representation messages (recorded units) regarding the hijab, based on political character references to the hijab (Refer to the page image) Perceiving the hijab as a political symbol provides a context for broader attacks against the clothing of Muslim women, which stems from their religious thinking; therefore, less attention has been paid to it from this angle in this field.
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