Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis of Gendered Power Relations in Pakistani News Media Texts

Abstract

This study investigates how Pakistani news media discursively construct and reproduce gendered power relations through linguistic and ideological practices. The research adopts the framework of Michelle Lazar’s Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis (FCDA) to examine the representation of men and women in selected English- and Urdu-language Pakistani news texts. Unlike traditional Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), Lazar’s FCDA specifically foregrounds patriarchy, gender ideology, and feminist resistance as central analytical concerns. The study explores how media discourse normalizes unequal gender relations through lexical choices, transitivity patterns, modality, framing, evaluation, and quotation strategies. The findings reveal that women are frequently represented as victims, morally regulated subjects, domestic actors, or mediated voices, while men are constructed as institutional authorities, experts, interpreters, and legitimate public actors. The study further demonstrates that English-language media more often frame women through discourses of rights, reform, education, and professional participation, whereas Urdu-language media position women within discourses of family honour, morality, modesty, and communal control. By applying Lazar’s FCDA framework, the research shows that Pakistani news discourse does not merely reflect social inequality but actively participates in the maintenance and normalization of patriarchal power. Although moments of feminist resistance and counter-discourse appear in some texts, particularly in English-language media, these remain limited and contested. The study concludes that Pakistani media discourse functions as an ideological site where gender hierarchy is reproduced through both overt and subtle linguistic practices.