Study on Representation of Gender in Indian Print Media: A Semiotic Analysis of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Advertisements

The categorisation of gender into femininity and masculinity is purely a social construct. Advertising is a social institution which plays a significant role in the promotion of notions of gender identities at a symbolic level (Gilbert and Taylor, 1991). The purpose of this study is to understand the manifestation of masculinity and femininity in contemporary Indian print advertisements of popular Fast Moving Consumer Goods(FMCG). This study uses the theory of visual social semiotics for the analysis adopting the framework propounded by Gunther Kress and Theo Van Leeuwen (1996;2006). The representational and interactive dimensions from the framework will be used for the analysis of the advertisements. This will be further thematised to understand the nature of the representation of masculinity and femininity in them. It will also provide an insight into the relationship between the viewers and participants of these advertisements. The data for the current study includes three popular Indian magazine advertisements of FMCG products published between the years 2019-2020, selected using a purposive sampling technique.

Hunting in a Hostile Climate?: Hegemonic Masculinity and Emphasized Femininity on a Hunting Message Board

Based on prior research about other male-dominated leisure pursuits, we might expect game hunting to present a hostile climate for its women participants. However, our qualitative analysis of 293 threads posted between 2005 and 2019 on an online hunting message board suggests that women were welcomed within the pastime. While they did not overtly exclude women from their ranks, however, posters curated the boundary between masculinity and femininity, as well as staking out the territory of emphasized femininity. In particular, they accomplished this via benevolent sexism, hostile sexism, and sexual objectification. Our findings not only shed additional light on the gendered dynamics of this pastime but also enriched our knowledge of the ways that hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity can work in tandem—within male-dominated recreational activities, and more broadly.

Portrayal of Female Violence in the Bible: the Stories of Jael and Judith

This article offers an analysis of the biblical stories about two heroines: Jael and Judith who save their people by killing the foreign generals. Both stories narrate critical historical situations, namely Jael’s story in Judges 4–5 dates to the XII–X cc. B.C.E. and reflects the ongoing conflict between the twelve tribes of Israel with their neighbors in the land of Canaan, Judith’s story dates to the II c. B.C.E. and reflects the conflict between the Jews and the Seleucid rulers who oppressed the Jewish populace, forced them to practice Hellenistic rituals and abandon the Jewish law and religious practices. Jael invites Sisera, a commander of the Canaanite army of king Jabin, to her tent, gives him milk to drink, and when the man falls asleep, she kills him with a hammer and а tent peg. Judith, a widow from the town of Bethulia, uses her beauty and charm to kill Holofernes, an Assyrian general. First, she gains his trust. Then, when Holofernes drunken falls asleep, she decapitates him in his tent. These texts explicitly show the collapse of the male power and demonstrate the ability of women to step in to save the people. Both heroines are praised by the narrators for their heroism. It is also demonstrated that Jael’s and Judith’s stories have an aim to teach how one may think out of the box. Due to the lack of male capability to solve the problem or, in other words, to protect the people as it is expected according to the patriarchal norms, social roles are shifted, and perception of masculinity and femininity is reеvaluated. The heroic stories of Jael and Judith represent the idea that women can be subjects of history, violence as а means to protect people is not limited to the male domain, and women can save people in critical situations. The violence performed by the women is perceived as an extraordinary act yet necessary and not deviant in the situation.

Traditional Gender Attitudes, Nativism, and Support for the Radical Right

Using data from the 2017 European Values Study, I analyze the link between harboring traditional gender attitudes and supporting radical right-wing parties. I theorize that the intrinsically gendered elements of the radical right's platforms and rhetoric, which mirror traditional masculinity and femininity in both explicit and implicit ways, make the ideology a comfortable home for individuals who hold traditional gender attitudes. My analyses reveal that gender traditionalists are more likely than egalitarians to express support for the radical right, even after controlling for a host of existing explanations. The same impact is not replicated for mainstream conservative parties. In addition, holding more gender-traditional attitudes raises the probability of supporting the radical right among both nativists and non-nativists. These findings provide important evidence that gender attitudes seemingly constitute a significant pathway to support for the radical right across Europe.

Weaving Womanhood into Warfare: Gender-Hybrid Narratives of Amazons Penthesilea and Diana Prince

Largely rooted in ancient Greek essentialism, Western dichotomies of masculinity and femininity have been historically used to divide the sexes and limit women’s involvement in male institutions of power. The female warrior is an anomalous case. Fictional tropes of this type, especially the Amazons of Greek mythology, embody both masculine and feminine associations to exist in the separate spheres of womanhood and military heroism. Two transhistorical Amazons—Penthesilea (from Quintus Smyrnaeus’ Posthomerica) and Diana Prince (from the 2017 film Wonder Woman)—were analyzed to explore the evolution of Western perceptions on powerful women in traditionally male spheres of influence. Guided by gender and classics theories, a thematic and narrative analysis focusing on the characters’ gender hybridity (the combination of masculine and feminine distinctions) demonstrated new understandings: Penthesilea’s story demonstrates that hybridity in antiquity reinforced the hegemonic implications of gender essentialism. Diana’s modern hybridity empowers female success in male realms. Nonetheless, both narratives establish the difficulty of crossing gendered boundaries, as compromise and defeat accompany hybridity. Comparing ancient and modern adaptations of the Amazons reveals that while women’s presence in masculine spheres remains tentative in Western society, reimagined female warriors represent increasing acceptance towards women adopting hybrid roles in public expressions of power.

What Drives Women to Extremist Groups?: Internal and External Drivers to Radicalization of Women

This article addresses the issue of the causes and drivers of radicalization and violent extremism (external and internal/contextual and psychological) from a general (irrespective of gender) and a gender-specific perspective (factors affecting women exclusively). It endeavors to explore and to understand the drivers that are conducive to, specific and inherent to women. The paper attempts to dissect the dichotomy of masculinity and femininity in relation to violent extremism and the gender components that determine, influence and amplify the process of radicalization.

Michel Foucault versus Kritisi Kaum Feminist

The paper presents Foucault's rich philosophical thoughts and analyses on various fields in the historical and cultural settings, and how his ideas are critiqued by feminists of various movements. Although his analyses are really productive and helpful for many feminists in pursuing their studies and activities, yet there are also many critics coming from the feminist group that Foucault's analyses are so androcentrism, namely centralized too much on man (patria potestas), as if woman is identical with man physically and psychologically. Foucault therefore is seen as "gender blindness" as he does not analyze enough women in many different aspects, e.d., masculinity and femininity (gender).