Tesis profesional presentada por Kelley Maureen Johnson

Maestría en Lingüística Aplicada. Departamento de Lenguas. Escuela de Artes y Humanidades, Universidad de las Américas Puebla.

Jurado Calificador

Presidente: Dra. Brita Banitz
Secretario y Director: Dra. Connie Rae Johnson McDaniel
Vocal: Dra. Lydia Elizabeth Giles Torres

Cholula, Puebla, México a 12 de mayo de 2009.

Abstract

In the academic disciplines of sociology (gender studies) and applied linguistics (critical discourse analysis) there is a lack of research that fuses together sexism and critical discourse analysis (CDA). This thesis presents the Mexican editions of two North American magazines, Cosmopolitan and Men´s Health targeted towards middle-upper class Mexican youth. The purpose of this thesis is to provide an example as to how one article from each magazine use specific lexicon, sentence and discourse structures to construct stereotypical gender ideologies and identities in relation to relationships and sex. Another purpose of this thesis is to present these findings to the habitual readers of the magazine so that they may critically question and negotiate what they believe is sexist discourse and if they decide to accept it or reject it. By providing an alternative point of view from the traditional gender ideologies, this may help to reduce manipulation that might occur between the magazine companies´ and its readers.

Table of content

Dedications

Abbreviations

Chapter 1. Introduction

  • 1.1 Introduction
  • 1.2 Justification for Study
  • 1.3 Applied Linguistics and Sociolinguistics
  • 1.4 Discourse Analysis (DA)
  • 1.5 Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)
  • 1.6 Feminist Stylistics
  • 1.7 Gender and Discourse
  • 1.8 Sexist Discourse and Gender Construction
  • 1.9 Social Constructionist Theory
  • 1.10 Research Strategy and outline of research strategy

Chapter 2. Literature Review

  • 2.1 Gender and Discourse
  • 2.2 Feminism
  • 2.3 Cognitive Schemas
  • 2.4 Sexist Discourse and Gender Construction
  • 2.5 Previous Studies on Gender and Discrimination
  • 2.6 Discourse Analysis
  • 2.7 Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)
  • 2.8 Feminist Stylistics

Chapter 3. Methodology

  • 3.1 Research Questions
  • 3.2 Summary of subject/population selection
  • 3.3 Summary of materials
  • 3.4 Codifying the Data
  • 3.5 Limitations of Thesis

Chapter 4. Results and Discussion

  • 4.1 Training Results
  • 4.2 Cosmopolitan: Juego de los números (The number game)
  • 4.3 Relationship between Text Producer and Reader, Cosmopolitan
  • 4.4 Men´s Health: Lee entre los pliegues (Read between the lines)
  • 4.5 Relationship between Text Producer and Reader, Men´s Health
  • 4.6 Sexism in Mexico

Chapter 5. Conclusion

  • 5.1 Overall Conclusion
  • 5.2 Conclusion of Results
  • 5.3 Limitations and Recommendations for Future Studies

References

Appendix I. Questionnaire of popular magazines

Appendix II. Training Instrument

Appendix III. Training Results

Appendix IV. Coding Instrument

Appendix V. Similarities in Linguistic Elements, Cosmopolitan

Appendix VI. Similarities Level of Sentence, Cosmopolitan

Appendix VII. Similarities Level of Discourse, Cosmopolitan

Appendix VIII. Analysis of Text Producer and Reader, Cosmopolitan

Appendix IX. Similarities in Linguistic Elements, Men´s Health

Appendix X. Similarities Level of Sentence, Men´s Health

Appendix XI. Similarities Level of Discourse, Men´s Health

Appendix XII. Analysis of Text Producer and Reader, Men´s Health

Johnson, K. M. 2009. Constructing gender ideology and identity via sexist discourse in two texts from the mexican editions of cosmopolitan and men’s health. Tesis Maestría. Lingüística Aplicada. Departamento de Lenguas, Escuela de Artes y Humanidades, Universidad de las Américas Puebla. Mayo. Derechos Reservados © 2009.