“It’s not just about being a woman”: Arab Women’s Reception of Post-racial Anglo-American Television

This article explores how young Arab women from the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region engage with representations of women in a specific group of contemporary workplace Anglo-American television programmes. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 27 Arab women, this study examines the intersectionality of gender, race, and identity in audience reception of what has been seen in Western contexts as post-feminist and post-racial television. While feminist media researchers have extensively explored post-feminist and post-racial representations, there is a notable absence of research that investigates their reception by racially diverse audiences. The analysis reveals that despite the post-racial narratives prevalent in the shows discussed, the participants actively point to aspects of race and racial inequality and negotiate their own experiences by drawing parallels with characters of colour. As such, this work argues that these audience members resist White femininity by activating a woman of colour (WOC) identity, whilst simultaneously subscribing to neoliberal meritocratic discourses. This study contributes to feminist audience research by highlighting the complexities and contradictions in WOC’s engagement with neoliberal and post-feminist ideologies.