Women in crisis situations, through the media

Abstract

The role of women in crisis scenarios has aroused the interest of many researchers and international organizations, both in their role as agents of change and promoters of resilience, and because of the high gender inequality in the consequences of disasters and crisis. The media, however, have not given visibility to the double role of women in crises.

This paper reviews the approach taken by different written media in Spain, in relation to the presence of women in crisis scenarios. The results confirm the under-representation of women in the media, in general, and in crisis scenarios, in particular. Hard news (associated with economic, political, financial or war power) is led by men, while soft news (associated with trends, leisure, entertainment and fashion) is led by women.

The most recent of these events is the COVID health crisis, where women have not appeared in the media as experts, even though 70% of the world's health personnel are women. Their appearance in the media has been linked more to their role as a user of health services than as key personnel in resolving the emergency. This represents an example of how in crisis scenarios, women are not only not visible in the media, but when they do, the role assigned to them is disconnected from current reality.