FEB 28 — Saudi Arabia has created history with the appointment of its first female editor-in-chief on February 17.

The English-language Saudi Gazette named Somayya Jabarti to the role, where she now heads one of the largest and most widely-read newspapers.

For a country that has a less than stellar record on women’s rights — it is the only country in the world where women can’t drive or vote — the winds of change are blowing strong.

In nominating her to replace him, Somayya’s (male) boss Khaled Almaeena said “it was not a question of gender but of merit that decided and earned her this opportunity”.

“There’s a crack that has been made in the glass ceiling,” Somayya said in an interview. “And I’m hoping it will be made into a door”.

Somayya said that while she hopes her position marks a new chapter for Saudi women in the media, she would not see it as a success until her peers take on leadership roles too.

Her influence on news content — particularly about how women are portrayed — will certainly be looked forward to. She acknowledges that “my actions will reflect upon my fellow Saudi women”.

All over the world, sexist stereotypes about how women are represented in the media continue to be a contentious issue not just in so-called conservative countries but even in the democracies of the West.

NBC’s primetime coverage of the 2014 Winter Games drew criticisms of how commentators of the women’s ski halfpipe repeatedly referred to skiers as “girls” instead of women.

One commentator, in describing how extreme the courses were for skiers, observed that female athletes do “all of that while in a Lycra suit, maybe a little bit of makeup — now that is grace under pressure”.

Just a few days ago, the Italian press heaped sexist-laden criticism on new female cabinet ministers about their dressing. The fact that Italy’s new Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, 39, appointed an historic number of women to his 16-person cabinet got lost in the deluge of criticism.

Instead, the Italian press focused on what the female minister’s wore to the swearing-in ceremony. One said that a female minister’s suit looks like “a Marvel superhero like Captain America”, adding her trousers were so tight that when she bent over to sign in as minister “many were reminded of Pippa Middleton’s silhouette”. The new Economics Minister was described as “betrayed by her make-up, which had two red points on her cheeks like Heidi in the summer”.

A 2012 Global Report on the Status Women in the News Media gives some insight into where the problems lie when it comes to how women are portrayed.

The biggest study done to date across 60 countries show that 70 per cent of the seats on governing boards and in top management belong to men.

Another report by the US-based Media and Gender Monitor found only 24 per cent of news stories were reported about women globally in 2011. Women were the focus of only 19 per cent of news stories in politics and government in 2010. Of the 84 news websites monitored by the Global Media Monitoring Project, 23 per cent of newsmakers were represented by women in 2010.

These reports spotlight the underrepresentation of women who determine the content of news, literature, and television. Men didn’t just dominate stories on women’s issues, the study found, but stories on all election topics, including the economy and foreign policy. When it comes to experts quoted in such stories, men generally outnumber women three to one.

In Malaysia, things are pretty much the same. The conversations about women remain overwhelmingly about how we look, dress, and about our roles as good women, good wives and mothers.

How often are women experts quoted in non-female related topics such as politics, economy, trade, innovation?

When it comes to female celebrities, the worse the news — divorce, dressing and gossip — the more likely it is to dominate the front page headlines.

In mainstream media, we continue to see headlines like “Beauty with Brains”, “Woman in a Man’s World”, and even the recent “boleh tahan cantik” (not bad looking) comment about the MCA candidate for Kajang MP.

This is the point I want to make, a point reinforced by the man who was instrumental in making history by promoting a woman to the top post of a news organisation.

It’s not just about gender. Merit is equally important. Quotas have a role to play, but just having more butts in the seats of power won’t determine if there is a real change in policy. There are as many sexist and divisive women as men in positions of power all over the world.

Changing the news about women is about having enlightened male and female decision makers. That’s when real change will happen.

* Faridah Hameed is the creator of the Language of Leadership for Women training series. Connect with her on Facebook, LinkedIn or her website www.faridahhameed.com

** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.