Loners, Criminals, Mothers: The Gendered Misrecognition of Refugees in the British Tabloid News Media

Abstract

Misrecognition has been conceptualised as an act of recognition that is ‘distorted’ or ‘incomplete’, and can be used to capture the differentiated experience of social and/or political phenomena by different individuals. In this article, we apply the concept of misrecognition to the visual representation of refugees in the British tabloid news media. The article presents a novel two-step analysis which combines visual analysis of a representative sample of British tabloid newspaper coverage of refugees with an analysis of a representative sample of this coverage by two focus groups of tabloid newspaper readers. In taking this approach, we capture the role of audiences in constructing the meanings of the images, a perspective largely absent from the literature to date. The findings show that a gendered misrecognition shapes the visual construction of refugees by this media and its audience, with women more likely to be recognised as refugees and (mis)recognised as vulnerable mothers, and men more likely to be misrecognised as loners and criminals and less likely to be recognised as refugees. Reflecting on the findings, we argue that misrecognition is a critical concept in understanding the politics of marginalisation constructed by the tabloid news media.

Visual humanization of refugees: A visual rhetorical analysis of media discourse on the war in Ukraine

“…The young age of the child together with the white garment communicate innocence and vulnerability (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2002), which contrasts with the distressing, gloomy, and stagnant atmosphere of the image constructed by the dark grey colour scheme and the mother's serious facial expression. Depictions of a lonely mother with a child are typical in media images of refugees (Ryan & Tonkiss, 2022), as they increase the air of vulnerability by showing the mother detached from social networks (Chouliaraki & Stolic, 2017). The right side of the image, which is traditionally associated with the future and optimism in Western culture, is dark and in shadow, symbolizing the uncertainly of and fear for the future (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2002).…”

“…While images of weakness and poverty challenge the dehumanizing approach and have the potential to trigger empathy, they also tend to ignore the agency of refugees and fail to represent their experiences (Chouliaraki & Stolic, 2017; Darling, 2021). Women and children—who are viewed as particularly vulnerable and powerless in Western imagery—are common representations of refugees in media (Hansen et al, 2021; Ryan & Tonkiss, 2022). These images maintain hierarchical relations by portraying refugees as passive victims in need of help from a superior rescuer (Ryan & Tonkiss, 2022), suggesting that asymmetrical power relations between “us” and “them” underlie the humanization of refugees.…”

“…Women and children—who are viewed as particularly vulnerable and powerless in Western imagery—are common representations of refugees in media (Hansen et al, 2021; Ryan & Tonkiss, 2022). These images maintain hierarchical relations by portraying refugees as passive victims in need of help from a superior rescuer (Ryan & Tonkiss, 2022), suggesting that asymmetrical power relations between “us” and “them” underlie the humanization of refugees.…”