IRANIAN WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVISTS AND THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF CORE CONCEPTS OF CRITICAL MEDIA LITERACY

Media has an important role in socializing Iranian women into sexism
and patriarchy. The women have been indoctrinated to believe that gender
inequality is natural and neutral, so they do not challenge the existing power
structure. Given the power of media in shaping Iranian women’s identity, it is
imperative to be analyzed critically. The current study investigates how Iranian
women’s rights activists understand the core concepts of critical media literacy.
Through a qualitative approach and conducting semi-structured interviews with
15 Iranian women’s rights activists, this study reveals that the activists know the
five core concepts, non-transparency, audience interpretation, politics of
representation, media motivations, and social justice. However, they know little
about other core concepts, languages and techniques, and how the media could
subordinate women further through employing these techniques.