The Image of Tunisian Women in TV Drama: An Analytical-descriptive Study of the Series "Sons of Mofida", Part Five.

Abstract

This study aims to identify the image of Tunisian women in television drama in terms of form and content; the problem of this study started from an attempt to describe and study gender-related stereotyping according to the gender-based roles and responsibilities that women suffer from in the Arab region in general, which often portrays Arab women in a negative and vulgar way that degrades their value within their societies. Among the most important tools and means used for this is media, especially TV drama, where the popularity of such a popular media product is exploited, especially in the holy month of Ramadan, where there is an increased production and display for portraying women mostly in a way that harms the status of women in society. Arab TV drama often depicts Arab woman as either a rape victim, an evil person, or a hateful, oppressed, jealous, or dishonoring person, who must be punished to preserve the family’s honor. This study adopts an analytical-descriptive approach, supported with the use of the content analysis tool to achieve such a goal. The population of the study is the TV dramas, and the series Ouled Moufida "Moufida Sons", Part Five has been selected as a sample case study here, which shows the extent to which this series has spread locally and in the Maghreb region. This study has made several conclusions, the most important of which are as follows: the family relations, emotional relations, and criminal acts are the most important Tunisian women’s issues dealt with in the selected sample series; there is a predominance of negative social roles associated with Tunisian women, in TV drama, in addition to many positive values related to Tunisian women in this series that have their own negative downside. The study has suggested several recommendations, including: conducting more research on gender-related stereotyping in media, specifically, on the image of women in Arab drama and cinema, attempting to reveal the shortcomings and mistakes in the media’s portrayal of Arab women, following up and assessing all forms of stereotypes, abuses, and professional errors in general, mainly those related to the industry of women image in Arab media.