Gender quotas and media representation of female members of parliament under authoritarianism: The case of Egypt

Abstract

Drawing on studies of gendered mediation and women's political representation, this study explores the implications of using gender quotas to facilitate women's political representation on their portrayal in the media. Focused on the coverage of Egyptian female members of parliament in the daily newspaper al-Masry al-Yawm, the study employs feminist content analysis to examine more than two thousand news articles across three parliamentary terms (2012–2022). The article reveals a heightened visibility that challenges patriarchal stereotypes and legitimizes women as political actors. However, this coverage exists within an authoritarian setting, where the media's compliance with government narratives subtly upholds the regime's image. This, in turn, may limit the empowering effect of such visibility, especially among regime critics, highlighting the complex role the media plays in mirroring and molding power relations and in the negotiation of gender perceptions.