Gendered Evaluation: A Stylistic Study of Adjectival Choices for Female and Male Public Figures in News Discourse

Abstract

Language is crucial in forming social perceptions, and media discourse is a strong site where gender identities are made, maintained, and even challenged. In this respect, linguistic decisions, especially adjectives, have evaluative connotations, which express hidden ideological stances. A significant number of studies are available on news discourse, but limited research is available to explore on stylistic study of adjectival choices for female and male public figures in news discourse. Thereby, applying a qualitative approach using Stylistic analysis interpreted by Fairclough’s (1995) Critical Discourse analysis model. The data is purposely collected from three different Pakistani newspapers as Daily Times, Pakistan Today, and The Nation, with a total number of ten articles. The current study aims to explore adjectival choices in Pakistani news discourse that reflect gendered evaluations of male and female public figures. The study highlighted that descriptions of the female figures in the Pakistani news discourse are characterized by adjectival decisions favoring emotional, appearance-related, and relational expressions, which are contrasted by adjectival decisions of male figures being characterized by qualities of authority, competence, and rationality.