World Economic Forum in Jordan 2005

First Close Up: Strong hands grip fishing net. Pull back: They belong to a wife helping her husband haul it in. Second Close Up: A woman smiles agonizingly while her impatient son waits for her to read. Cut to: A hand turns the Arabic book right side up so the illiterate women can finally begin to learn, and teach.

These two, powerful images were produced by H.M. Queen Rania of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum. Were they enough to catalyst gender reform?

"We are waking up to the fact that half of the planet is made of women; the other half is made by women," quipped Maurice L赹, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Publicist Group, France; Member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum; Co Chair of the World Economic Forum in Jordan 2005.

Yet, this biological fact too often gets distorted and obscured by the media. Readers, listeners and viewers don t know what s going on, based on wrong, misleading or missing images. "Those in the West have a perception of Arab women lacking freedom of choice, limited professional and educational opportunity, infringed rights and routinely vulnerable to abuse or even 'honour' killing. What is the reality, and what gets in the way of accuracy?"

In a serious but lively discussion, some men felt that the media for better or for worse largely reflect reality. "You can t erase a thousand years of history with a thousand hours of programming," said Abdul Rahman Al Rashed, General Manager, Al Arabiya News Channel, United Arab Emirates. "Improving the gender issue is both cultural and legal. The image side of the equation is important not only for changing men s minds, but also allowing women a new way to see themselves. But it will take a long time."

What s more, the reality of disempowerment is not unique to females. "We should not focus on wanting more rights and freedom and better images in terms of gender, but rather as a priority for citizens," argued Rami Khouri, Editor at Large, The Daily Star, Lebanon. He conceded that "some issues are peculiar to women, but before we worry about changing images on TV we should change the social reality on the ground through defining citizenship better for all."

Women largely, and emphatically, disagreed. Some countered that the media at best buttress the status quo and at worst spread degrading and abusive ethics. "A recent sampling of TV programming: 19% portrayed women being abused, 13% killed, and this is unacceptable," said Muna Abu Sulayman, Executive Manager, Strategic Studies, Kingdom Holding Co., Saudi Arabia. She called for higher standards, ratings and screening of content to remove negative reinforcement that "perpetuates, degrades and objectifies the low status of Arab women."

Whether the issue is race, religion, class or gender, reform demands struggle, on or off screen. "It s a man s world, why should they give it up?" provoked Raghida Dergham, Senior Diplomatic Correspondent and Columnist, Al Hayat, USA. Dergham pointed to her editor and recalled years of friendly fighting to earn a weekly column from him. She fears that an interpretation of religious doctrine in the region masks ulterior motives "as a pretext to scapegoat women as a sacrificial lamb,” and warned “we are constantly given excuses and told that all restrictions are done in the name of protecting women. Well, they are not. They are abusing women."

"The media can be agents and instigators of reform," asserted Queen Rania. "The ads didn't bring direct change alone, but did bring debate, on both sides, which was healthy for moving forward." In this way, many participants concluded, the virtual image must work hand in hand with the social transformation.

Richard Gere, President, Gere Foundation, USA, agreed. Based on decades of witnessing and sparking change around the world, he concluded: “I don t believe media is here to reflect, but rather to create reality, and this can be good for business as well since you reach the women, who are, after all, the consumers."