Research Article

Visual Stratification: Representations of Immigrant and Refugee Women in UK Media

Volume: 9 Number: Toplumsal Cinsiyet Özel Sayısı September 27, 2025
TR EN

Visual Stratification: Representations of Immigrant and Refugee Women in UK Media

Abstract

This article systematically investigates the visual framing of immigrant and refugee women in four major UK media outlets (BBC, Daily Mail, Financial Times, and Metro) over a twenty-month period spanning politically charged events. While existing literature has identified recurrent visual tropes depicting migrant women primarily through binaries of victimhood or empowerment, it frequently overlooks intersectional nuances of nationality, legal status, and racialized hierarchies. Addressing this gap, this study employs a rigorous visual content analysis informed by feminist, postcolonial, and critical media theories, emphasizing how visual frames differentially racialize vulnerability, distribute moral recognition, and code social legibility across groups. The analysis, based on a dataset of 3,647 images, reveals significant disparities: Ukrainian women are often portrayed through normalizing frames that suggest integration and belonging, whereas Afghan, Palestinian, and Rohingya women frequently appear in anonymized or victimized representations, reinforcing symbolic exclusion. Regression modeling indicates that nationality, visual framing choices, and temporal political contexts significantly predict whether migrant women’s faces are visible. This article enhances the scholarly understanding of visual stratification by demonstrating how ostensibly humanitarian imagery can reproduce racialized inequalities and political invisibility. Future research is encouraged to explore audience reception of these visual frames to elucidate their societal implications further.

Keywords

Supporting Institution

TÜBİTAK

Thanks

This study is based on research conducted at the University of Sussex with support from the TÜBİTAK 2219 fellowship. I thank TÜBİTAK for its support.

References

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  2. Andreassen, R. (2005). The mass media’s construction of gender, race, sexuality and nationality: An analysis of the Danish news media’s communication about visible minorities from 1971-2004. University of toronto
  3. Banet-Weiser, S. (2018). Empowered: Popular feminism and popular misogyny. Duke University Press.
  4. Berry, M., Garcia-Blanco, I., & Moore, K. (2015). Press coverage of the refugee and migrant crisis in the EU: A content analysis of five European countries: Report prepared for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies. https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/legacy-pdf/56bb369c9.pdf
  5. Bleiker, R., Campbell, D., Hutchison, E., & Nicholson, X. (2013). The visual dehumanisation of refugees. Australian Journal of Political Science, 48(4), 398-416.
  6. Butler, J. (2009). Performativity, precarity and sexual politics. AIBR. Revista de Antropología Iberoamericana, 4(3).
  7. Carpi, E., & Pınar Şenoğuz, H. (2019). Refugee hospitality in Lebanon and Turkey. On making ‘the Other’. International Migration, 57(2), 126-142.
  8. Çetin, C., & Gürelli, M. (2024). Narratives of securitization: Media portrayals of Refugees in Türkiye during election periods. İletişim Kuram ve Araştırma Dergisi, (68), 70-89.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Gender, Policy and Administration, Women's Studies

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

September 27, 2025

Submission Date

June 11, 2025

Acceptance Date

August 15, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Volume: 9 Number: Toplumsal Cinsiyet Özel Sayısı

APA
Çetin, C. (2025). Visual Stratification: Representations of Immigrant and Refugee Women in UK Media. Fiscaoeconomia, 9(Toplumsal Cinsiyet Özel Sayısı), 273-292. https://doi.org/10.25295/fsecon.1717131
AMA
1.Çetin C. Visual Stratification: Representations of Immigrant and Refugee Women in UK Media. FSECON. 2025;9(Toplumsal Cinsiyet Özel Sayısı):273-292. doi:10.25295/fsecon.1717131
Chicago
Çetin, Canan. 2025. “Visual Stratification: Representations of Immigrant and Refugee Women in UK Media”. Fiscaoeconomia 9 (Toplumsal Cinsiyet Özel Sayısı): 273-92. https://doi.org/10.25295/fsecon.1717131.
EndNote
Çetin C (September 1, 2025) Visual Stratification: Representations of Immigrant and Refugee Women in UK Media. Fiscaoeconomia 9 Toplumsal Cinsiyet Özel Sayısı 273–292.
IEEE
[1]C. Çetin, “Visual Stratification: Representations of Immigrant and Refugee Women in UK Media”, FSECON, vol. 9, no. Toplumsal Cinsiyet Özel Sayısı, pp. 273–292, Sept. 2025, doi: 10.25295/fsecon.1717131.
ISNAD
Çetin, Canan. “Visual Stratification: Representations of Immigrant and Refugee Women in UK Media”. Fiscaoeconomia 9/Toplumsal Cinsiyet Özel Sayısı (September 1, 2025): 273-292. https://doi.org/10.25295/fsecon.1717131.
JAMA
1.Çetin C. Visual Stratification: Representations of Immigrant and Refugee Women in UK Media. FSECON. 2025;9:273–292.
MLA
Çetin, Canan. “Visual Stratification: Representations of Immigrant and Refugee Women in UK Media”. Fiscaoeconomia, vol. 9, no. Toplumsal Cinsiyet Özel Sayısı, Sept. 2025, pp. 273-92, doi:10.25295/fsecon.1717131.
Vancouver
1.Canan Çetin. Visual Stratification: Representations of Immigrant and Refugee Women in UK Media. FSECON. 2025 Sep. 1;9(Toplumsal Cinsiyet Özel Sayısı):273-92. doi:10.25295/fsecon.1717131

Cited By

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