Iranian Feminism and Transnational Ethics in Media Discourse

Iranian Feminism and Transnational Ethics in Media Discourse examines the mediated dialogue of #WhiteWednesdays, specifically between U.S. mainstream news narratives and Iranian activists on Twitter. These narratives highlight how hierarchies of visibility in both news and social media discourse overshadow transnational feminist politics while reinforcing femonationalist narratives. Such discourses seemingly support women in Iran, but simultaneously promote Islamophobic messages aligned with U.S. geopolitical politics. In a critical discourse analysis of the #WhiteWednesdays campaign on Twitter and mainstream U.S. news coverage of the movement, this analysis complicates representations of Iran, Muslim women, and feminist politics. The author also unpacks the politics of representation, where voices on the ground are obscured in favor of elite sources who reaffirm U.S Islamophobic and xenophobic ideologies. Scholars and students of communication and media studies will find this book particularly interesting.

Sara Shaban is assistant professor of communication and journalism at Seattle Pacific University.