The good and bad victim : a critical discourse analysis of the representations of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canadian local press
(2016) MRSK61 20161Human Rights Studies
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Den här studien undersöker hur den Kanadensiska lokaltidningen Winnipeg Free press porträtterar försvunna och mördade urfolkskvinnor. Syften med studien är att undersöka om sociala konstruktioner av genus, ”ras” och klass påverkar kvinnoras beskrivningar, och om dessa beskrivningar är påverkade av stereotypa uppfattningar om urfolkskvinnor. Det empiriska materialet består av 12 nyhetsartiklar publicerade mellan 2006 och 2012. Genom Norman Faircloughs kritiska diskursanalys framgår det att urfolkskvinnorna beskrivs som prostituerade, drogmissbrukare och samhällets förkastliga, vilket beskyller kvinnorna för det våld de utsatts för. Parallellt beskrivs kvinnorna som bra mödrar, som värnade över familjen och ville ha ett bättre liv. Detta... (More)
- Den här studien undersöker hur den Kanadensiska lokaltidningen Winnipeg Free press porträtterar försvunna och mördade urfolkskvinnor. Syften med studien är att undersöka om sociala konstruktioner av genus, ”ras” och klass påverkar kvinnoras beskrivningar, och om dessa beskrivningar är påverkade av stereotypa uppfattningar om urfolkskvinnor. Det empiriska materialet består av 12 nyhetsartiklar publicerade mellan 2006 och 2012. Genom Norman Faircloughs kritiska diskursanalys framgår det att urfolkskvinnorna beskrivs som prostituerade, drogmissbrukare och samhällets förkastliga, vilket beskyller kvinnorna för det våld de utsatts för. Parallellt beskrivs kvinnorna som bra mödrar, som värnade över familjen och ville ha ett bättre liv. Detta inkluderar kvinnorna i den vita hegemoniska feminiteten och gör de till värdiga offer. Genom Patricia Hill Collins intersektionella perspektiv har implikationer av ”ras”, genus och klass identifierats i porträtteringarna av urfolkskvinnorna. De illustreras som fattiga, outbildade, tillhörande en lägre klass i ett medelklass samhälle och blir därför de ociviliserade ”andra”. De beskrivs som hypersexuella och promiskuösa, könsroller som reproducerar koloniala idéer om urfolkskvinnor som ”squaws”. Samtidigt påverkar traditionella könsroller som mödrar och fruar beskrivningarna, vilket reproducerar koloniala idéer om urfolkskvinnor som den ”Indianska prinsessan”. I studien diskuterar jag även varför artiklarna skrivits på detta sättet, och sammanfattar att stereotypa uppfattningar om urfolkskvinnor påverkar hur de porträtteras i tidningen samtidigt som det vidmakthåller vit dominans. (Less)
- Abstract
- This thesis examines how missing and murdered Indigenous women are represented in the Canadian local newspaper Winnipeg Free Press. The purpose of the study is to research if social constructions of gender, race and class have any implications to the representations of the Indigenous women, and if these representations are based on stereotypical perceptions of Indigenous peoples. The empirical material consists of 12 news articles published between 2006 and 2012. With the help of Norman Fairclogh’s critical discourse analysis it is shown that the Indigenous women are described as prostitutes, drug addicts and throwaways of society, blaming them for the violence committed against them. Simultaneously they are described as women who wanted... (More)
- This thesis examines how missing and murdered Indigenous women are represented in the Canadian local newspaper Winnipeg Free Press. The purpose of the study is to research if social constructions of gender, race and class have any implications to the representations of the Indigenous women, and if these representations are based on stereotypical perceptions of Indigenous peoples. The empirical material consists of 12 news articles published between 2006 and 2012. With the help of Norman Fairclogh’s critical discourse analysis it is shown that the Indigenous women are described as prostitutes, drug addicts and throwaways of society, blaming them for the violence committed against them. Simultaneously they are described as women who wanted better lives, who were wonderful mothers that cared about their family, making them assimilate to the white hegemonic femininity turning them into worthy victims. Through Patricia Hill Collins intersectional perspective, implications of race, gender and class were identified in the representations. The Indigenous women are depicted as uneducated and poor, belonging to a lower class in a middle-class society and therefore the uncivilized ”other”. They are hyper sexual and promiscuous, gender roles reproducing colonial notions about indigenous women as ”squaws”, at the same time as traditional gender roles as nurturing mothers and wives affects the representations, reproducing colonial notions of the ”Indian princess”. Further I discuss why the news articles are written this way, concluding that stereotypical perceptions about Indigenous women control their representations as well as it upholds white domination. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8875394
- author
- Aldegren, Josefin LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- MRSK61 20161
- year
- 2016
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- critical discourse analysis, Canadian local press, class, gender, race, social constructions, Indigenous women, missing and murdered, intersectionality, mänskliga rättigheter, human rights
- language
- English
- id
- 8875394
- date added to LUP
- 2016-08-11 08:40:54
- date last changed
- 2016-08-11 08:40:54
@misc{8875394,
abstract = {{This thesis examines how missing and murdered Indigenous women are represented in the Canadian local newspaper Winnipeg Free Press. The purpose of the study is to research if social constructions of gender, race and class have any implications to the representations of the Indigenous women, and if these representations are based on stereotypical perceptions of Indigenous peoples. The empirical material consists of 12 news articles published between 2006 and 2012. With the help of Norman Fairclogh’s critical discourse analysis it is shown that the Indigenous women are described as prostitutes, drug addicts and throwaways of society, blaming them for the violence committed against them. Simultaneously they are described as women who wanted better lives, who were wonderful mothers that cared about their family, making them assimilate to the white hegemonic femininity turning them into worthy victims. Through Patricia Hill Collins intersectional perspective, implications of race, gender and class were identified in the representations. The Indigenous women are depicted as uneducated and poor, belonging to a lower class in a middle-class society and therefore the uncivilized ”other”. They are hyper sexual and promiscuous, gender roles reproducing colonial notions about indigenous women as ”squaws”, at the same time as traditional gender roles as nurturing mothers and wives affects the representations, reproducing colonial notions of the ”Indian princess”. Further I discuss why the news articles are written this way, concluding that stereotypical perceptions about Indigenous women control their representations as well as it upholds white domination.}},
author = {{Aldegren, Josefin}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{The good and bad victim
: a critical discourse analysis of the representations of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canadian local press}},
year = {{2016}},
}