Media discourse : a compare and contrast of language used to portray female offenders in Canada and China

Abstract

Many studies were done to reveal that individual’s perception towards certain group of people is established and influenced by outside sources. Female is considered the vulnerable group in the society and their presence in media is usually sensitive, especially with the case of female offenders. Their actions are distorted and exaggerated, and a wrong image of female offenders is delivered to the public. This phenomenon is not exclusive to one country, but prevails in many other countries and cross different cultures. This paper aims to compare and contrast how female offenders are portrayed by media in Canada and China. All 44 articles collected from Toronto Stars, Beijing Legal Times, and Wang Yi were categorized and analyzed through the use of content analysis, seven themes were created to help the researcher conclude and analyze the patterns in regard to female offender’s misrepresentation in media. The results have showed that while Canadian media is less likely to objectify female offenders than its Chinese counterpart, both countries’ media tend to adhere to patriarchal values when depicting them.