The representation of Muslim women in the Portuguese press: From the perspective of Islamic feminist movements

Resumen

Feminist movements assume a social, cultural, and political position, characterized by their heterogeneity, representing the diversity present in humanity. Within this plurality, Islamic feminisms are movements that aim to find in the Muslim community a space that can be shared between men and women in an ideal of equality, both in the public and private spheres. On the other hand, within the concerns of feminisms, the media took on one of the central issues. At the confluence between feminisms and the representation of women in the media, this study aimed to investigate the representation of Muslim women in the Portuguese press. To this end, informative pieces were collected from the Portuguese newspapers Observador and Público, methodologically using Critical Thematic Analysis, as stated by Brandi Lawless and Yea-Wen Chen (2019). The results showed that five critical themes stood out in the analysis: clothing, sport, fashion, migration, and gender issues. The critical theme that stood out most from the data analyzed was that relating to Muslim clothing, with this issue still being seen in the Western world as a form of oppression of women. Finally, it should be noted thatnews content focused mainly on the international context, meaning the media continues to perpetuate ignorance regarding the reality of Muslim women residing in Portugal.

Keywords:
Feminisms, Muslim women, Online Journalism, Islamic feminism, Representation