Gender Perspective on the Arab Spring

This paper looks at the role of media of Arab Spring by presenting a gender perspective of the upheaval. This is an assessment of the potential role of “New media” as a reliable source of information and its implications on “conventional media outlets” such as television and newspapers. The study suggests that a prospective trend of joint venture between “horizontal means of communication” in conjunction with “conventional media” is to be seen in the future. The results indicate that an outburst in the use of “social media” occurred during the uprisings that swept the “Arab world” in early 2011. Two years later; this phenomenal reliance on social media tools and networks continue to gain momentum ranking “digital media” the most desired source of information. Yet, the results suggest that “digital media” does not overcome the status of “conventional media” rather operates in parallel with each other. The study highlights a gender perspective of the “Arab Springs”; its causes and implications on the people in three of the Arab countries; Egypt, Yemen and Libya, drawing on the opinion of 314 female students from the Middle East, Asia Africa who were surveyed during the summer of 2012.