Abstract
Xenia Gleissner explores the framing of Emirati women in the public domain by analyzing the perception of role models cultivated via state television in the United Arab Emirates. This is a study of gender-related public visibility. Narratives illustrate how the government in this Arab Gulf country encourages women to partake in the public sphere as symbols of the nation’s modernity. Yet, parallel to the national discourse, there is a traditional framework which promotes the absence of the female body from the public domain. Rather than challenging these juxtaposed values, the national media merges and sanctions both by linking them to ethnicity and class. The chapter ultimately considers the disputes about the appropriateness of female visibility and the meaning of national identity.
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Gleissner, X. (2017). Women as Representations of Class and Modernity: Gendered Public Visibility on Abu Dhabi TV. In: Maestri, E., Profanter, A. (eds) Arab Women and the Media in Changing Landscapes. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62794-6_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62794-6_4
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