According to The Independent’s Glenda Cooper ‘Female war reporters have a glorious history – so why are they still being judged by their sex?’
Female reporters on the frontline of the Libyan revolution, such as Sky News’s Alex Crawford, feel that there is still a strong and very western orientated focus on their gender and whether or not it’s the ‘right’ place for a woman.
While female foreign correspondents are certainly nothing new, it seems that the ‘step-ford wife’ view of woman is still plaguing those brave enough to get behind a camera in more often than not, incredibly threatening situations.
“It's frankly really insulting and very, very sexist,” Crawford said.
“ I'm working alongside today the chief correspondent who's a man who's got three children and there will be no one who says: 'what do you think you're doing, how awful, what are you doing to your children?”
So why are female reporters subjected to discussion, even ridicule when their male counterparts aren’t?
According to the article, the media focus for Libya has been that the first three reporters to reach Tripoli were females; Crawford, Sarah Sidner of CNN and Zeina Khodr of al-Jazeera English.
And it is the western media focus that has honed in on this area.
"Those reporting on us rarely fail to mention what we are wearing, how our hair looks, and our overall appearance in some of the harshest conditions humans have to face,” Sidner said.
It seems the while the news itself may be subjective, such a sexist view of it may not be.
The full story can be viewed here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/female-war-reporters-were-given-the-softer-side-of-war-2354158.html
This is a really good account of something quite thought provoking. It just shows how true attitudes are in relation to women. And not just glass-ceiling, careerist attitudes, but women as a gender. Just like the new story out from the ADF that women will be on the front line within 5 years, will they too be subject to such discriminatory debates along the lines of think of your children? If it hasn't happened now when we are apparently at our most equal between the sexes, will actual equality occur ever? I hope one day to be as brave as these women who go to front lines, and quite frankly, if I don't look like I've had my beauty sleep, my critics will cop a nice 'balanced' argument from me!
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