تويت
Omani society perspective of women in the media:
Written by :
Jameela AL-Zidi
Bayan AL-Balushi
Rabia AL-Balushi
Despite all what have been given to the Omani women, they still face some challenges. The most dominant challenge is the society’s perspective of her and her work. Many agree that the Omani society has become more willing to accept the idea of a woman working in many different fields no matter what those fields are. By which she proved that she could change the society perspective by her efficiency and excellence in various fields and the media field is one of them.
Regarding this topic, the women in the media, Dr. Aysha Saeed Al-Gabshi said: “Previously, the media field faced a kind of abandonment from the female gender because of the society perspective, where only few women worked in this field since it was a challenge for her and her family. Contradicting with that we can see that today the society has accepted the idea of women working in various fields and her presence in occupying a certain job is only constrained by her own perspectives and believes.” And she adds, “one of the challenges that women in the media field faces today is her disbelieve in her ability to take higher management positions where her work is limited to roles like a journalist, a program perpetrator, or a broadcaster with only few jobs as executers and programs directors especially for television programs”. In addition she emphasized and said, “We are one of the leading women in the Arabian Gulf countries who could change the society perspective of a working woman, where the Omani woman has proved her efficiency at work and her ability to do whatever jobs that people thought she wouldn’t be able to do, and she did it in spite of all the difficulties that she has faced”.
She has succeeded in rectifying the society’s perspective about her:
With this regard, the media man Ahmed Aal-Othman stated, “Frankly, if we are talking about the Omani society in big cities like the capital Muscat, we can find more of an open minded society where in such society people are more willing to accept the idea of a woman working in the media world and being a broadcaster or a presenter. In contrast, in the societies of small cities and villages it is harder to accept such an idea”. He also insists that, “ A woman’s role in contributing in the whole process of the development and improvement of our country has made her involved in many jobs of many fields. Her involvement made a positive impact on the society where she gained its acceptance after witnessing her hard work and success. Such impact worked well in changing the society perspective in all fields she worked in general, and in the media field specifically”.
She stayed loyal to her own Omani society values
Within the highlighted subject of Omani society acceptance of the woman role in the media field, media field man Humaid Al-Baluchi asserts that, “The nature of our progressing society and its exposure to new social and living life aspects made more awareness about woman’s role in all fields including the media world. Such development is really natural and expected because of the progressions the society goes through and its awareness of the role of a man and woman in the society. Further Humaid Al-Baluchy explains about the changing society perspective by saying, “This changing perspective is shaped by many aspects like the following up of other countries through the different media and the development of knowledge and educated people. Furthermore, the changing perspective of the society has been also changed by the classy way the Omani woman has presented herself in the media and she stayed loyal to her own Omani society values”.
We don’t find the same acceptance in the Economic and Sports fields:
Adding to this subject -Deputy Managing Editor in the journal of The World of Economics and Business- Fatima Al-Riyami says: “ Society’s perspective differentiates by variations of the fields in the media world in which a woman works, where her work in the social and cultural fields are more accepted than her work in the economical and sports fields. For example, personally in the first three years of my work in business media, I faced a big challenge in the acceptance of the society where it is not used to the existence of a woman in the field of business media and journalism, and the challenge that a woman still keeps on facing no matter what field she works in is the difficulty in her career advancement”. In addition, she adds that, “During the last years the Omani woman has succeeded in changing the society’s perspective that can be proved by the success of many famous characters in the Omani media that has gained the trust and pride of the Omani society”.
The Omani society culture today has started to accept the idea of women working in the media field. The Omani TV presenter and broadcaster Abdullah Al-Sabbah stated his opinion by saying, “The Omani society perspective has a different view of a woman working in the media field, where it varies between rejection and acceptance”, he also refers to the ability of her being a TV presenter and broadcaster depends on her family and the environment. He says, “There are some families that have no problem with it and completely accept it, other families accept it but with some hesitations, and finally there are those families that completely reject it”. Furthermore, he agreed that the Omani culture has become more accepting of woman’s role in the media field and other fields as well that were rejected previously. “ There is a big improvement, acceptance and a positive perspective that is better than before, and the truth is the Omani woman has succeeded because of her hard work and her confidence in her talent where she has worked and shined in many local and global programs”.
Member of the national youth commission Muna Al-Fannah says, “Since it’s start the Omani media came with presence of the female gender, as we know Muna Al-Manthari was the first female voice coming through the Omani radio in 1971. Since then, year after year we witness a strong presence of women in all media fields of journalism, radio, television and public relations. I believe that the Omani society today has accepted the woman of media and has become more encouraging and supportive of her”. She continues, “The Omani woman of media has contributed in the advancement of the Omani media in all of its fields and she has helped in spreading the awareness of some of the most important cases and issues of women in her society”.
We don’t forget the role of his majesty in encouraging women and the improvement of the society’s perspective
In the area of this subject, the Omani TV presenter Samia Murad, who is working now with Sama Dubai TV channel, says, “Our society is open minded when it comes to our work in the media field, and the Omani media field has fascinated the gulf countries with its power and talents that some of them went to other gulf countries tv channels, and this all wouldn’t have happened without the blessing of Allah and the prayers of my mother and her support that took me to a level that I am really pleased. The family’s approval is a really strong factor in helping us achieve our ambitions and goals as well as changing the society’s perspective about us. We don’t forget the role of his majesty in encouraging women and the improvement of the society’s perspective by giving the chance for her to take some leading roles in our country and believing in her and her work”.
The Omani society became more open minded:
Qais Al-Busaidi who works in the media field says, “The Omani woman has become one of the important elements of the society and she tries hard to take the chances that the government gives her to contribute in building the country in all fields and the media is one of those fields. The society should believe in the importance of her presence and the investment of her ideas in the media field has been and still is very positive for the society”. He continues by saying, “The Omani society has become more open minded , where I can’t say the whole society since some are still more conservative and connects everything with traditions but at the end all depends on woman’s decision and her family’s decision as well”. He add, “In spite of all that we have, women who works in the media have a strong presence and are respected and appreciated in the society. In conclusion, it must be said that men only can’t accomplish anything alone and they should work together with women in all various fields as his majesty ordered”.
I don’t take the society’s perspective as an obstacle for me
Nawal Al-Hajri a journalist in The World of Economic and Bussiness and a reporter for the Emirati Bint Al-Ghalleej magazine says, “The society has become more open about women’s rights to work in the media and journalism field, but unfortunately there are still some minds that haven’t accepted this idea well that thinks it is unsuitable for a woman to work in such fields”. She continues, “There must be some limits and red lines made where just because I am working this field doesn’t mean that I will be working side by side with a man, where I have my own ideas and my own path to cross and I don’t take the society’s perspective as an obstacle for me where the only challenge that I face is the mixed environment in my work where I prefer to work in a media environment that is surrounded with women more. What we see today with rising numbers of Omani women in the media field proofs that women succeeded to gain the society’s trust”.
Here we only say our condolences goes to you
Teacher in the United Schools- Amna Al-Baluchi says: “ The rejection of some people in our society for women working in the media field comes from the their values and customs, and their idea that she would be more valued at home with her children. When an Omani woman appears in a respectable way with preserving all of her Islamic and cultural values and her belief in her message as well as her accomplishments make her a role model for all of those in her age. This way she receives all the respect and appreciation from the viewers . The existence of such a woman is very important in the media field so we can make sure that we are contributing in the building of the minds of our country in the right way through good role models. Unfortunately, when we see the other side of media women who appear without any respected values or purposeful massages, here we only say our condolences goes to you”.
Furthermore, Ahmed Al-Sabei agrees by saying, “ In order for woman’s work in the media field to be acceptable by our society it should be fully respectful of our religion and our society’s values and traditions. This should be done not only in the way she speaks but also in the way she looks and the way she deals with others. Unfortunate, there are many Arab media women who represent themselves in a bad way by their looks or the shows they are presenting. In contradiction, the Omani media women have always been reserved when it comes her religion, values and customs where she represents herself and her meaningful message with full transparency “.
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