SCIENCES DE LA SOCIÉTÉ - N° 70 - février 2007
Women and medias
International Women's Day
A international comparision
Edited by Marlène COULOMB-GULLY and Simone BONNAFOUS

Marlène COULOMB-GULLY, Introduction to an international comparision about the International Women's Day mediatisation  [Text in french]
Claire BLANDIN, Media geography and women's rights
Sheila PERRY, Pamela M. MOORES, International Women's Day : reluctance in the United Kingdom
Danièle TORCK, Between disinterest and tradition. Thoughts on some snapshots of 8 March 2005 in the Dutch media
Dominique DESMARCHELIER, The 8 March in the swiss-romand press. Between derision and denunciation of inequalities
Simone BONNAFOUS, Marlène COULOMB-GULLY, The International Women's Day in France. Between cliché and islamic veil
Nadine CELOTTI, Pascale JANOT, The Italian Otto marzo and the mimosa. A ritualised celebration in the service of politics and consumption
Lydia FERNANDEZ, Montserrat RIBAS, Spain : women's new power
Camelia BECIU, Valentina MARINESCU, The 8 March in Roumania : a publicity concept
Lucyna KOPCIEWICZ, Red carnation and red tulip : the strong ideological polarisation of the 8th of March in Poland
Josette BRUN, Barbara M. FREEMAN, After the 8 march in English Canada and Quebec. A contrasting celebration
Carolyn M. BYERLY, Danna L. WALKER, The invisible commemoration of the International Women's day in the american media

NOTES DE LECTURE

 
Claire BLANDIN, Media geography and women's rights

Abstract
With communist legacy, economic concentration and moral standards coming back, we can distinguish three groups of countries in our programme. Those sets of themes will then be the central subject for this short presentation concerning women's ways of life and mass medias situation in these countries, in order to demontrate our methodological choice.

Key-words : women's rights, media landscape, groups of communication.

 
Sheila PERRY, Pamela M. MOORES, International Women's Day : reluctance in the United Kingdom

Abstract
International Women's Day is not widely celebrated in the UK and received little media attention in 2005. Despite the endeavours of prominent women, a trades' union campaign and local celebrations, the national media, especially television, largely ignored the occasion. Local newspapers and radio produced low-key, apolitical coverage. Women in employment was the dominant theme. The national media briefly referred to women suffering violence and oppression abroad, but scarcely mentioned the topic in the British context. iwd was sometimes a subject of humour. In a post-feminist, post-modern era, media debate on equal opportunities focuses on multiculturalism rather than gender. iwd was either a local or a foreign issue.

Key-words: International Women's Day, United Kingdom, press, television, media, commemoration, national, local.

 
Danièle TORCK, Between disinterest and tradition. Thoughts on some snapshots of 8 March 2005 in the Dutch media

Abstract
The national media coverage of March 8, 2005 in the Netherlands reveals a discrete, if not reserved political and media agenda. Next to a few anecdotal articles or TV-programs, most documents are representative of the Dutch interest for the outside world and of the public debates about the multicultural society, the position of religion, the situation of immigrant women and the traditional issue of the combination of work and motherhood. The absence of the woman as equal of the man in the political and economical areas in the analysed period is an illustration of the paradoxical situation of Dutch women, relatively well represented in the Parliament, absent at the top of organizations and institutions, and subjected to potential precariousness, resulting from a dominant choice for part-time work.

Key-words : the Netherlands, 8 March 2005, media coverage, triviality, traditions, paradoxes.

 
Dominique DESMARCHELIER, The 8 March in the swiss-romand press. Between derision and denunciation of inequalities

Abstract
The treatment of International Women's Day by the French-speaking Swiss press can go from derision, humorous if sometimes chauvinist, to the denunciation of inequalities through reports on the demonstrations organized by the different associations. The emphasized role of exceptional women (in the political and cultural domains) represents a third subject matter.

Key words : French-speaking Switzerland, IWD, demonstrations, crimes, exceptional women, difference or disparity or inequality of opportunities.

 
Simone BONNAFOUS, Marlène COULOMB-GULLY, The International Women's Day in France. Between cliché and islamic veil

Abstract
In France, International Women's Day has established itself on the national calendar and the coverage of the event by the media is substantial if somewhat diverse. While the individual editorial stance taken by each media organisation is the first element to be taken into account (differences between public and private television channels, for example), the image that the event has of being an « old chestnut » discourages certain elements of the media who are traditionally sympathetic to the women's cause. Despite the existence of conservative tendencies, the treatment of the event is, in general, « politically correct », with a strong tendency in the 2005 version to focus on the relationship between women and Islam.

Key-words : 8th March, International Women's Day, women, feminism, women's movements, « Ni putes ni soumises », media, television, press.

 
Nadine CELOTTI, Pascale JANOT, The Italian Otto marzo and the mimosa. A ritualised celebration in the service of politics and consumption

Abstract
Analysis of the media coverage of 8th March 2005 International Women's Day in Italy reveals what has become a political, institutional ritual. Promoters of the event are men and women of the establishment, and not at all ordinary women and women's movements which still remain unheard. This discourse focuses initially on the Italian woman/western woman engaged in her quest to power which however remains the prerogative of men (while violence against women is silenced) and on women from Southern Hemisphere, particularly from the Muslim world where they are still struggling for their fundamental rights. Against the background of mimosa blossoms, the symbol of Otto marzo, the event is equally coloured with aspects of a consumerism that is promoted by a form ad hoc publicity which increases its popularity, obscures its origins and puts in question its true values.

Key-words : International Women's Day, media, ritual, consumerism, mimosa, Otto marzo.

 
Lydia FERNANDEZ, Montserrat RIBAS, Spain : women's new power

Abstract
Although partially overshadowed by the anniversary of the Madrid bomb attacks (11th March 2004), the 8th March was marked in Spain by a series of measures related to women. These measures, adopted by the new psoe-led government which came to power on 14th March 2004, received wider than average media coverage in almost all the daily press and television channels thanks to official backing. An analysis of how press and television discourse was created provides elements enabling better understanding of the political and socio-cultural challenges involved in women's issues.

Key-words : women, discourse, media, Spain, Catalonia, daily press, television, timeframe, space, parity.

 
Camelia BECIU, Valentina MARINESCU, The 8 March in Roumania : a publicity concept

Abstract
During the fifty years of communism, March the 8th and the women related themes had been annexed to the propaganda machinery. Post communism has brought about profound changes in the Romanian public sphere, where a fast-going desacralization occurred, of both the big ceremonies and other large scale collective gatherings that were closely related to the former regime. In this respect, March the 8th is no exception. Perceived as an opportunity to highlight the usual propaganda rhetoric, the International Women's Day had little chance to remain as such on the agenda of the media, politicians and ngos after 1989. This study is focused on the discursive ways the media have used to de-politicize this day, while consecrating it as a ceremonial ritual pertaining to the consumer-oriented, urban popular culture. By means of social rituals and the entertainment discourse, the media have restructured March the 8th as a real advertising concept. From this angle, March the 8th is no matter for debate and does not generate any particular « problematique ».

Key-words : social ritual, public issue, media discourse, entertainment discourse.

 
Lucyna KOPCIEWICZ, Red carnation and red tulip : the strong ideological polarisation of the 8th of March in Poland

Abstract
This paper is an attempt to identify and to comment some discursive patterns related to social practices and representations of the Women's Day' 2005 in Poland. The 8th of March which in its commonsense perception refers to the Polish communist past, seems to be deeply reformulated nowadays. Discursive games about the status of the Woman's Day can be observed through the empirical data collected in this study. Moreover, the lack of international dimension of the Women's Days in Poland is discussed further.

Keywords : postcommunist identity, communist relic, shame, woman's destiny, feminism.

 
Josette BRUN, Barbara M. FREEMAN, After the 8 march in English Canada and Quebec. A contrasting celebration

Abstract
The stories published on iwd 2005 in English Canada and Quebec, mostly produced by women, are generally local in nature, the international aspect being used to put into perspective women's status in the country and its provinces.  Feminism, rarely mentioned but often in the background, is both the object of harsh criticism and high praises.  English Canadian media followed more willingly the promotional information on iwd sent by the federal Women's agency and media coverage in Quebec was influenced by current affairs related to men's issues in the province. Differences between newspapers and stories in each media show that writers were able to exercise some agency in their coverage, even in the conservative tabloid press.

Key-words: IWD, feminism, equal rights, Canada, journalism.

 
Carolyn BYERLY, Danna L. WALKER, The invisible commemoration of the International Women's day in the american media

Abstract
We found a remarkable consistency of invisibility for International Women's Day 2005 in major print and broadcast media in the United States. In analyzing the few stories that did air or publish, we found a focus on conflict and on prominent women in the Bush administration. Coverage thus ignored the wider range of news sources (e.g., feminist leaders and ordinary women), serious barriers to women's social participation (e.g., poverty, pay inequity), and significant gains that women have made in society, including in business, politics, and athletics.

Key-words : women and news, feminist analysis of news, sexism in news.