The people demand social justice

The wave of protests that began in the Arab world and continued in various European countries did not leave Israel untouched. The social protest, which gained unprecedented public support and extensive media coverage, is portrayed as a seminal event in the history of Israeli society. It began in a protest of the younger generation against the high cost of housing in Israel and continued with a call for the establishment of a new socioeconomic order. The leader of the protest was an anonymous twenty-five-year-old student.

The present study focuses on the image construction of the protest leader – Daphni Leef – in the online press in Israel (July-September 2011).

The corpus of research on women’s media representations reveals that symbolic annihilation is employed in the representation of women (Tuchman, 1978), which is manifested in absence of representation or in limited, distorted, and negative representation.

Exclusion and inclusion practices are frequently employed in the coverage of women acting in the public space. Women politicians receive less coverage than men, and aspects irrelevant to their position are emphasized in their representation, such as appearance, family status, and emotionality.

The term ‘frame/framing’ refers to a frame the media imposes on reality together with the meanings each community accords its narratives (Gamson, 1989; Reese, 2001). Gendered framing refers to the propensity to relate political stories in masculine terms of conflict and power. The coverage of women leaders treats them as ‘outsiders’, as ‘pioneers’ and agents of change. In some cases this element can contribute to the image of women leading protest organizations.

The present study discusses the elements of gendered framing (Norris, 1997) and whether it was employed toward the leader of this protest.