School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Feb 28;20(5):4359. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20054359.
This article analyzes the representation of women in Chinese news reports about COVID-19 in order to examine the consequences of the pandemic on gender relations in China. It draws on the linguistic framework of appraisal theory for identifying evaluative language and takes Chinese news reports on the COVID-19 frontline in 2020 as the major data sources. The study finds that while the narrative about women's capacity in combating the virus, resolution in the face of adversity, and sense of responsibility help build a shared feeling of community to reconstruct the disturbed social order, the descriptions about the evaluation and feelings of female characters lead to undesirable outcomes in gender relations in China. Specifically, the newspapers' reports on COVID-19 mainly focus on group interests and accomplishments and overlook women's contributions in containing the pandemic. Meanwhile, the news reports devoted to constructing model female characters that highlight transcendent qualities place considerable pressure on everyday women. Furthermore, journalists tend to infuse their reports with gender bias when depicting women, including aesthetic appreciation of appearance and a focus on emotional reactions and domestic roles, which hinders the professional identity of women. This article sheds light on gender relations in China amid the pandemic, as well as the study of gender equality in media discourse.
本文旨在通过分析中国新冠疫情新闻报道中对女性的呈现，探讨疫情对中国性别关系的影响。研究采用评价理论的语言学框架，以 2020 年中国新冠疫情前线的新闻报道为主要数据来源。研究发现，虽然有关女性抗击病毒能力、逆境中坚毅、责任感的叙述有助于构建共同的社区感，以重建混乱的社会秩序，但对女性人物的评价和感受的描述却导致了中国性别关系中不理想的后果。具体而言，报纸对新冠疫情的报道主要关注群体利益和成就，而忽视了女性在遏制疫情方面的贡献。同时，新闻报道致力于构建突出卓越品质的模范女性形象，这给日常女性带来了相当大的压力。此外，记者在描述女性时往往带有性别偏见，包括对外表的审美欣赏、对情绪反应和家庭角色的关注，这阻碍了女性的职业认同。本文揭示了疫情背景下的中国性别关系，以及媒体话语中性别平等的研究。
