MASCULINITY IN FEMALES AND FEMININITY IN MALES: EMERGENCE OF CRITICAL REFLEXIVITY IN PAKISTANI FASHION AND BUSINESS MAGAZINES

Abstract

This paper presents a multimodal discourse study on the construction of critical gender reflexive discourse both textually and visually. The specificity of the research is based on the hypothesis that this study delineates the transformation of gender roles in the fields of Fashion and Business in Pakistan. Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis (FCDA) with particularity of Critical Gender Reflexivity taken as theoretical basis, this study disseminates the reflexive patterns in the data sets retrieved from the two Pakistani Fashion (She) and Business (Flare) magazines. Through the integration of social semiotics (Kress and Leeuwen; 1996) and Fairclough’s model of Critical discourse analysis as the methodological framework, the present study revealed the construction of gender reflexivity through portrayal of femininity in men and masculinity in women. The results of the study revealed that the discourse structures were formulated using representation of participants with linguistic devices such as tag lines and narrative and conceptual images visually.  Moreover, lexis and registers were also employed linguistically to relate identities; whereas, eyeliners and both horizontal and vertical angles were used to depict identities visually. The results also revealed that the social structures and the underlying ideologies are responsible for the incarnation of such discourses.