“THEY ARE SEXUAL OBJECTS”: CONSTRUCTION OF FEMALE RAPE VICTIMS IN SELECTED NIGERIAN NEWSPAPERS
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In: Medialni Studia, Vol. 2022, No. 1, 2022, p. 92-117.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - “THEY ARE SEXUAL OBJECTS”
T2 - CONSTRUCTION OF FEMALE RAPE VICTIMS IN SELECTED NIGERIAN NEWSPAPERS
AU - Osisanwo, Ayo
AU - Ojo, Ronke
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022, Faculty of Social Sciences. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Following the assumption that there is a particular way newspapers often use language to represent female rape victims (FRVs) and the insufficiency of existing studies on the linguistic representation of FRVs in Nigerian newspapers, this study critically discusses the linguistic and discursive tools that are deployed by selected Nigerian newspapers to represent FRVs in their reports. Aspects of Halliday’s transitivity system and Lazar’s notion of feminist critical discourse analysis served as framework. The framework was complemented with the use of Voyant tools to determine the preponderance of word choice in news reports. Rape reports published between January, 2020 and December, 2020 by The Punch, The Guardian, Vanguard and Daily Trust were purposively retrieved and constituted the data for this study. Data engagement revealed that FRVs were imbued with five representations: patriarchal preys, object of sexual gratification, anonymized and pseudonymized victims, objects of pity and victims of dual jeopardy. The social implications of these representations aligned with patriarchal practices such as androcentrism, incest, mental abuse and sexual assault while the gender biases implicated in the representation included the projection of female as inferior, powerless and emotional beings.
AB - Following the assumption that there is a particular way newspapers often use language to represent female rape victims (FRVs) and the insufficiency of existing studies on the linguistic representation of FRVs in Nigerian newspapers, this study critically discusses the linguistic and discursive tools that are deployed by selected Nigerian newspapers to represent FRVs in their reports. Aspects of Halliday’s transitivity system and Lazar’s notion of feminist critical discourse analysis served as framework. The framework was complemented with the use of Voyant tools to determine the preponderance of word choice in news reports. Rape reports published between January, 2020 and December, 2020 by The Punch, The Guardian, Vanguard and Daily Trust were purposively retrieved and constituted the data for this study. Data engagement revealed that FRVs were imbued with five representations: patriarchal preys, object of sexual gratification, anonymized and pseudonymized victims, objects of pity and victims of dual jeopardy. The social implications of these representations aligned with patriarchal practices such as androcentrism, incest, mental abuse and sexual assault while the gender biases implicated in the representation included the projection of female as inferior, powerless and emotional beings.
KW - discourse analysis
KW - female rape victims
KW - Nigerian newspapers
KW - Rape discourse
KW - sexual objects
KW - violence against women
KW - Literature studies
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85138604828&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Journal articles
AN - SCOPUS:85138604828
VL - 2022
SP - 92
EP - 117
JO - Medialni Studia
JF - Medialni Studia
SN - 1801-9978
IS - 1
ER -