Everything I have done along the way to complete the Certificate of Media & Politics has taught me a lesson that I would not have learned without pursuing this certificate. From the education across campuses to the discussions had both within and outside the class, these experiences have contributed to not only the topic of female representation and political activity but also my overall intellectual and spiritual journey. As a student studying Culture and Politics, I did not initially realize two things: 1) how deeply interrelated politics and the media are and their reciprocal effect on each other, and 2) how passionate I am about studying that relationship, especially since the addition of a media perspective makes the theoretical lessons learned about politics in GU-Q become a practical experience in NU-Q. It is one thing to hear about the theories but another to apply them and observe real-life examples through digital research. Both the theoretical and practical approaches are extremely valuable to the full comprehension of the other which is what makes this joint experience one that invokes a well-rounded education about media and politics. The courses at both institutions discuss themes and concepts that aided in completing the e-portfolio. This essay aims to critically evaluate these interdisciplinary themes and reflect on my CMAP journey, particularly in light of my project, "From Beirut to Washington: A Comparative Analysis of the Influence of Media Representation on Women's Political Participation."

 

I always knew I wanted to discuss the lack of female political participation since women’s studies were always of my peak interest, and this covers the political side of the research. The media part is where it gets even more interesting  The focus on the United States and Lebanon aids the richness of the research  Lebanon has a strong history that encompasses both the good and the bad that play into its insufficient social and infrastructural progress that affects the women of the country in a political sense and beyond. Lebanon is a country that has never seen a day without some form of corruption, economic crisis, or social issues such as sectarianism or gender inequality. Hence, events such as the Lebanese revolution depict the frustration that these factors of Lebanon have on its citizens, and women took the lead in the movement (WILPF 2020). Lebanese women have been planning and advocating for change since the start of time and their resilience is of no limit. “From all different ages and backgrounds, Lebanese women and girls are shaping the direction and character of the revolution. They are on the frontlines of demonstrations, standing in the faces of soldiers and their tanks, and forming buffers between security forces and protestors to prevent outbreaks of violence” (WILPF 2020). Lebanese women have always fought for national unity, as it was not just their rights that they fought for, but for everyone’s rights in Lebanon.  Along with that, the Beirut explosion also made the Lebanese call for a change as all of social media, internationally, suddenly was up in flames about the consistent tragedies that the country endures and the large detrimental effects that ensue. This depicts that the media in all of its forms has endless influence on social and political activism whether it be negative or positive. The same can be said for the United States, beginning from the women’s suffrage movement where women such as Susan B. Anthony, who fought for women’s right to vote, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton who, in 1869, established the National Woman Suffrage Association. Yet, it was only until the year of 1919, when the Nineteenth Amendment was passed in 1919 that women gained the right to vote. However, these women’s efforts were not only for voting rights, but they too, wanted to increase political equality and social change (Library of Congress). In terms of social media, the #MeToo movement took social media by storm and was initiated by American activist Tarana Burke in 2007, mainly as a movement for women of color. It was later initiated by Alyssa Milano’s tweet and responses as it created a thread of women using the phrase “me too” to show solidarity and that they are not alone in suffering from sexual harassment or abuse. “Through the hashtag #metoo survivors’ accounts of being harassed and violated are aggregated, or digitally pulled or presented together as related. The societal norms of sexual harassment and abuse became entrenched in the past through many individual incidents that were normalized in families, cultures, and societies” (Ferriere 2021). By making a collective gathering of women who have similar experiences and doing so publicly, it normalizes the act of speaking up when assaulted which was a social and cultural taboo. This movement made the media focus more on the stories of the women and blaming the one responsible for it and less on shaming the women who went through it.

 

The themes across the multiple courses I took for CMAP all helped prepare me for my research topic. One of those fundamental CMAP courses is Theorizing Art in Qatar. Throughout this class, I observed patterns of different art exhibitions and learned about the stories behind them and the stories that they put forward. Art is not the only thing that consists of any sort of framing, and that connection made between theorizing art and the

media’s framing provided me with the curiosity to look for more than what is presented, which

is why I wanted to explore beyond the media’s framing of female political participants and

study the impact. In addition, the value of imagery, symbolism, and visual culture plays a huge

role in the public perception of both art and women in media. Beyond the media’s fixation on

women’s appearance, there is also the presentation of women in an image that aligns with

negative stereotypes and social perceptions to fit their narrative. Additionally,

I am someone who creates art as well, all with a message behind it, such as

“Jingle Bombs,” which depicts the traditional Lebanese Cedar tree that is usually

decorated with jingle bells around the time of Christmas, has now become replaced with

bombs, and this is a reference to the Beirut explosion and all other similar incidents.

Lebanon has become more associated with tragedy rather than triumph, and this

art piece is a testament to that with the aim of raising awareness of a consistent form

of devastation that ensues, and so, I personally know that art frames a message, and

the media does too. It is just a matter of who is behind it and what perspective that person

encompasses.

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Another course is Resistance, Rebellion, and Revolution which taught me how the media can be used as a form of resistance, similar to what we discussed in class regarding Anonymous and the question of being a resistance group. They were perceived as a resistance group since they have always proclaimed that they always bring the truth to light and expose corruption. The media can be used to resist by being a channel for expressing political views and speaking up for what is right in the face of oppression. The media can be a double-edged sword by its ability to either suppress resistance or have it spread like wildfire. This theme of resistance is one that relates to my topic since it requires some level of resistance to become a female political participant. Resistance is portrayed when a woman is participating in a revolution. Resistance is portrayed when a woman expresses her political opinion. Resistance is portrayed when a woman runs for a political position even though her male peers are deemed as more favorable, even when the media and society try to tear her down and demotivate her. Hence, tying the theme of resistance, rebellion, and revolution to my topic was in much agreement, so much that the final project for this course was regarding the movement for women’s rights. It was about connecting the message from two films that depict resistance and how women played a role in successfully making a change for women, their rights, and their social perceptions. This is parallel to the effect that the media has, and so, this course’s theme fully tackled both parts of my topic and aided me greatly in observing patterns in female resistance that relate to my CMAP topic.

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Furthermore, through courses such as Arab Television Industries, I understood the politicization of media and how the advancement of Arab television signifies how the media can be used as leverage to either support or break down female empowerment and gender equality in politics. In addition, the study of Lebanese media, specifically, made my comprehension of cultural and political lenses far clearer and beneficial to the application of that knowledge of Lebanese media to my CMAP topic which requires exactly that. This academic process has made the topic easier to explain while my commitment to the subject grew stronger.

 

My CMAP journey, at both Northwestern University in Qatar and Georgetown University in Qatar, was a perfect combination of various forms of knowledge that were insightful and valuable. The multitude of backgrounds that both Georgetown and Northwestern students possess provided me with what resembles a catalog of different perspectives on certain issues, how to analyze these issues, and the processes behind finding solutions. GU-Q and NU-Q students both tackled important topics, but it was the way they thought of these topics that differed. GU-Q students were more focused on the political side of the issue by always viewing a problem and then thinking of what policy could be made to solve it, what went wrong within the government, and how foreign and local actors played a role. NU-Q students thought more about the media representation of these issues, how misinformation and fake news regarding these issues spread, and the effect of broadcasting and journalism on the story and public perception. Hence, it is clear how beneficial and critical these approaches are to my understanding and implementation of my CMAP topic as both perspectives are needed to evaluate the effect of the media and the political and social constraints on women pursuing politics. 

In conclusion, the interdisciplinary approach of the CMAP journey has served as a strong foundation that may start with specific concepts and themes, but this gained knowledge allows for a broader understanding of movements and other political causes that may take place in both the physical and digital spheres such as the Lebanese Revolution and the #MeToo movement. Even from a non-academic perspective, I have spiritually experienced a lot through this CMAP journey as I learned about the life of refugees in several countries, even that of my own, with a similar comparative lens of East and West, which changed the way I think about the two. I learned about the injustices they face and the governmental discrimination against them which gave me a deeper perception of what refugees endure and how they have been forced into this circumstance due to tragedies such as war and natural disasters. These are all things that are not presented in the media, yet the context is extremely important and heartbreaking at the same. Hence, I became more understanding, knowledgeable, and sympathetic through this journey and am definitely more prepared to learn further.