Vol. 10, Iss. 1, 2016

Complete issue as PDF

Constructing and Consuming Gender through Media

10 May 2016

Constructing and Consuming Gender through Media
Mona Abdel-Fadil Editorial Gender is constructed, performed and consumed through media in multiple ways. In this special issue of CyberOrient, we aim to bring together research on a range of Middle Eastern and Muslim cultural media products. In addition, a couple of the articles and essays shed light on the ways in which gender and gender activism may be enacted online in a variety of ways. The overarching…

Editorial

Performing Piety and Perfection: The Affective Labor of Hijabi Fashion Videos

10 May 2016

Performing Piety and Perfection: The Affective Labor of Hijabi Fashion Videos
Kristin Peterson Article This article examines the work of a popular Muslim woman on YouTube, Amena Khan, who has attracted over 310 thousand subscribers to her channel and runs a successful online boutique. While Amena’s hijab tutorials and lifestyle videos might appear to be just about superficial topics like fashion or makeup, this article argues that she does actual labor to not only produce an aesthetic style but…

Article

Let’s Talk About Sex: Counselling Muslim Selves Online

10 May 2016

Let’s Talk About Sex: Counselling Muslim Selves Online
Mona Abdel-Fadil Article Islam Online Arabic, and particularly the counselling service Problems and Solutions, received harsh critique for being too ‘open’ or even ‘un–Islamic’ in their views and dealings with sensitive topics, not least with regards to sexuality. The counselling service Problems and Solutions can be considered the emblem of Islam Online’s efforts to unite secular and Islamic perspectives and relate to contemporary Muslims’ real lives and problems.…

Article

When Shaming Backfires: The Doublespeak of Digitally-Manipulated Misogynistic Photographs

10 May 2016

When Shaming Backfires: The Doublespeak of Digitally-Manipulated Misogynistic Photographs
Olesya Venger Article This study examines the case of an iconic digitally-manipulated news photograph, a controversial product of political propaganda featuring Majid Tavakoli, a student leader of the Iranian opposition in 2009, human rights activist, and political prisoner. The photograph depicts Mr. Tavakoli wearing a chador, traditional women's clothing in Iran, and appears to be digitally manipulated with the help of image-editing software. Published during the "Green Movement"…

Article

Satellitization of Arab Media: Perceptions of Changes in Gender Relations

10 May 2016

Satellitization of Arab Media: Perceptions of Changes in Gender Relations
Anne Sofie Roald Article This article explores how students living in East Amman in Jordan perceive a link between global television entertainment and social changes, particularly changes in gender relations. The study relies on a questionnaire distributed among university students in Amman in 2009 and 2010 with 946 Muslim respondents, and focus group discussions and individual interviews with 44 Muslim students living in East Amman in 2013. The theoretical…

Article

Contextualizing Internet Studies: Beyond the Online/Offline Divide

10 May 2016

Contextualizing Internet Studies: Beyond the Online/Offline Divide
Jon Nordenson Comment This essay discusses the issue of contextualization in studies of online platform usage and online material. It argues that a separation between online and offline cannot be sustained, as social media users relate to many different online and offline contexts simultaneously. Why protagonists make use of online platforms, which platforms they use, how they make use of them, who they seek to reach, and so…

Comment

Five Questions About Arab Women’s Activism Five Years After the ‘Arab Spring’

10 May 2016

Five Questions About Arab Women’s Activism Five Years After the ‘Arab Spring’
Sahar Khamis Comment The Arab world witnessed unprecedented waves of revolt in 2011, which have taken the whole world by surprise, and led to many unexpected outcomes and varying results. Five years after this wave of revolt, it becomes necessary to examine its wide array of effects, especially on certain groups who played a significant role in the midst of these uprisings, such as youth and women. This…

Comment