Ikeas retuscherade kvinnor
En kvalitativ studie av Ikeas val att retuschera kvinnor i den Saudiska Ikea-katalogen
News mediaIkeaCultureContent analysis and power relationsIkeaNyhetsmedierMaktrelationerInnehållsanalys
On the first of October 2012 the media reported that the women in the Ikea cataloguehad been airbrushed in the Saudi edition. Initially the blame was put on either theSaudi government the Islamic culture or the Saudi franchise. In the end it wasrevealed that the Swedish company Inter Ikea Systems had the full responsibility forIkeas actions and therefore was the culprit behind the airbrushing. On whoseinitiative or why the airbrushing was done the media never found out. These areanswers only Ikea has, although they remain unresponsive to these questionsthroughout the news portrayal.This study methodology uses a qualitative content analysis as framework to furtherinvestigate the news media with support of theoretical perspectives such as mediatheory, power relations and cultural differences. Other theoretical themes included inthis case study are gender, hegemony and discourse analysis.This study therefore investigates how the presentation of news shape and frame newsin the way that they do from the basis of cultural values and power relations. Thestudy shows that the perspectives we have of other cultures in some way arepreconceptions that is shaped by the media and society. Furthermore the news mediademonstrate within this discourse that discrimination and inequalities are a portrayalthat is easy to apply on others but difficult to criticize within our own culture. Withthat said, the construction of the news portrayal and the concept of power relationswill always be dependent on context and cultural values, therefore the news mediaportrayal will remain a complex subject.