G5 Doctoral dissertation (article)
Constructing gender identities multimodally : young, middle-class Pakistanis on Facebook (2022)
Salam-Salmaoui, R. (2022). Constructing gender identities multimodally : young, middle-class Pakistanis on Facebook [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Jyväskylä. JYU Dissertations, 537. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-39-9325-2
JYU authors or editors
Publication details
All authors or editors: Salam-Salmaoui, Rauha
eISBN: 978-951-39-9325-2
Journal or series: JYU Dissertations
eISSN: 2489-9003
Publication year: 2022
Number in series: 537
Number of pages in the book: 1 verkkoaineisto (105 sivua, 65 sivua useina numerointijaksoina, 3 numeroimatonta sivua)
Publisher: University of Jyväskylä
Place of Publication: Jyväskylä
Publication country: Finland
Publication language: English
Persistent website address: http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-39-9325-2
Publication open access: Openly available
Publication channel open access: Open Access channel
Abstract
In recent years, in Pakistan, Facebook has emerged as a dynamic online platform that provides its users (both men and women) with unparalleled opportunities to express themselves using variety of multimodal resources. Using Multimodal Discourse Analysis and taking insights from the theory of performativity, this study specifically aimed to examine how young middle-class Pakistani men and women mobilise visual and linguistic resources in constructing their gender identities in their Facebook posts. More importantly, the study explored in what ways young middle-class Pakistani men and women adhere to or contest the prevailing linguistic and socio-cultural norms and stereotypical gender notions in Pakistan in their Facebook posts and what specific role Facebook plays in enabling and constraining the construction of their gender identities. The results of the study indicated that in Pakistan, Facebook constitutes as a complex phenomenon. On the one hand, Facebook has become another venue where gender norms are reinforced and perpetuated. On the other hand, Facebook was found to be particularly empowering for previously marginalised groups (e.g., women assault victims, the LGBT community) as it offered them space to resist the dominant hegemonic discourses. Thus, these results are in line with previous findings that the gender differences visible in the offline world are not only reinforced but also challenged on social media platforms, as these provide users with a site on which they can simultaneously transgress the dominant gender ideologies.
Keywords: communication; social media; Facebook; young people; gender; identity (mental objects); gender identity; stereotypies; norms; multimodality; performativity
Free keywords: gender identities; Pakistan; middle-class; multimodality; performativity
Contributing organizations
Ministry reporting: Yes
Reporting Year: 2022