On September 25 this year, I had been hosted in “Noon Al Niswa” programme for an interview entitled “Challenges that women face in the media”.
The subject of the episode is considered very important in light of the economic situation, development and cultural openness that Qatar has been witnessing in the past ten years.
First, the idea of the programme itself focuses on social and cultural issues in general and difficulties facing women in particular in light of the changes that Qatar is going through.
In fact, we are in dire need of more meaningful programmes that shed light on social issues and women, considering that women represent half of society.
From my perspective, women represent the entire community through their active participation in all fields related to their families, careers or the community itself.
Maybe what gives these programmes the ability to reach minds and hearts of the audience is the emergence of numerous Qatari figures in visual and non-visual media who were able to raise such issues that concern all of us.
The real role that women played before the openness must also be taken into consideration as history witnesses their positive economic, social and educational role of backing men under very unfortunate social circumstances.
However, they surpassed all challenges with the help of intellectual strength that resulted in responsible and mindful generations despite the simplicity of their educational and cultural knowledge and limited economic resources.
Moreover, they also held a number of top educational and cultural positions as well as acquiring higher scientific qualifications, so what we see now is different from the era before the openness.
But even with this, women still face challenges, especially in the field of media. These challenges are rooted in customs, traditions, society’s perception and familial authority.
What surprises me is that some media figures who call for democracy and freedom of speech for women are the ones who ban the appearance of women in the media and actually don’t practice what they preach.
Further challenges are social shyness, which maybe a result of tribalism in the society and the family environment that wouldn’t allow female members in any field.
It can be clearly seen — articles or quotes by Qatari women without their pictures. The same applies to many web forums and websites, where a lot of women discuss numerous issues under nicknames. Therefore, the existence of women in cultural dialogues and discussions is rare.
Competition with men in different fields, including in the media, and jealousy that bars women from appearing in the media lest they should sweep the field are some other challenges.
Also, there are not many incentives to get into media — financially or culturally.
Training centres should focus better on the process of seeking and following-up talented candidates for media at schools and universities while making sure there is a plan to groom them in an organised way.
Centres must also discuss all issues and their solutions through prominent women in the society who could influence larger numbers. Finally, may Allah help whoever participates in the renaissance of Qatar and in supporting Qatari women in particular, while believing in their scientific capabilities.
