Veiled Women Athletes in the 2008 Beijing Olympics: Media Accounts

The aim of this paper is to explore and to compare different international media accounts about the presence of veiled athletes in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. In other words, to uncover whether the discourse of clash of cultures or that of cross-cultural dialogue has shaped their position about Islam, Muslim identities, Muslim women and the Muslim world in general. Furthermore, from the perspective of media in the Arab and the Muslim world, the purpose of the analysis is to explore their responses to international media, and to investigate their positions in relation to the host nation (China), Asian culture and the Olympics.