Content area
Full Text
Abstract
Language, culture and media create a triangle in which each affects the other two and in turn is affected by them. As far as language is concerned it is greatly influenced by the social and cultural features of which gender is an important factor. Choices of language are more gender biased in male dominant and female subservient societies. In Pakistan too, gender discrimination is a prominent feature of language use. Printed media clearly reflects this bias. Showbiz section that constitutes an important part of Pakistani newspapers also manifests gender specific language choices. The present research explores the language of the showbiz section of selected newspapers to examine how gender is portrayed in showbiz an^ entertainment section of the newspapers with reference to the social and cultural stereotypes operating in our society. The data is categorized and analyzed both from the linguistic and social perspectives. It is expected that the research would not only help in understanding the gender specific language choices in Pakistani print media but also would be relevant to the Bangladeshi context in many ways.
Keywords: gender, stereotypes, language, Pakistani newspapers
1. Issue in the Context of Pakistani Society
Pakistan is a traditional patriarchal society with gender ideologies and disparities operating in different walks of life in favour of men and against women. The stereotypical image of women is created through their binary projection as incarnations of subordination, obedience, subservience, docility, and compliance on one hand and commodities to be purchased, used, and played with on the other hand. Like most of the fields, Pakistani media also works under a structure in which women are either submissive sufferers or objects to entertain. "This media projection is in fact a reproduction of the existing and established image of women in our society" (Rasul, 2008, p.74). In general in the Pakistani society a prejudice against women exists in all the spheres of life; thus Pakistani news papers, both English and Urdu, also give a biased and prejudiced coverage to women in the domain of fashion. This prejudice and bias is created as well as reflected through the pictorial, thematic and linguistic gender specific representation.
2. Aim of the Research
The aim of the research is to examine how Pakistani newspapers present gender stereotypes...