Visual representation of gender in flood coverage of Pakistani print media

Abstract

This paper studies gender representation in the visual coverage of the 2010 floods in Pakistan. The data were collected from flood visuals published in the most circulated mainstream English newspapers in Pakistan, Dawn and The News. This study analyses how gender has been framed in the flood visuals. It is argued that visual representation of gender reinforces the gender stereotypes and cultural norms of Pakistani society. The gender-oriented flood coverage in both newspapers frequently seemed to take a reductionist approach while confining the representation of women to gender, and gender-specific roles. Though the gender-sensitive coverage displayed has been typical, showing women as helpless victims of flood, it has aroused sentiments of sympathy among readers and donors, inspiring them to give immediate moral and material help to the affected people. This agenda set by media might be to exploit the politics of sympathy but it has the effect of endorsing gender stereotypes.

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