Gender Construction in Obituaries: An Analysis of Pakistani Newspapers

AbstractGender as a construct not only plays an important role in our lives, but also in (reporting of our deaths. Thus, the presentation of male and female deaths in obituaries also exhibits gender stereo-typicality. In the traditional patriarchal context of Pakistan obituaries that are published in newspapers present men and women differently. The current research aims at exploring how gender is presented in family written obituaries that are published in Pakistani newspapers. For the current study the data is collected from four Pakistani newspapers which include two Pakistani English newspapers namely The Dawn' and The News' and two Pakistani Urdu newspapers namely The Nawa-e-Waqat' and The Jang'. The data is taken from the newspapers for a duration offour months that is February to May 2009; and the collected data is analyzed to examine how gender identities are constructed. In order to facilitate the process of data analysis, data is categorized under various sections: i) Genderedness of the deceased; ii) Personal and Professional identity of the deceased; Hi) Identity of relatives and/ or survivors. It is expected that the study will provide insights into how gender identities are constructed and projected in obituaries, and how these obituaries reflect certain socio-culturalperspectives on gender.Keywords: gender construction, obituaries, Pakistani newspapers1. Introduction and Background of the ResearchObituaries are death announcements for public that traditionally appear in newspapers since newspapers are considered to be an important part of media and a powerful source of disseminating information to public. Obituaries account for the significance of the life of a deceased, biographical sketch, family relations as well as short prayers for the deceased. Obituaries help in knowing the family background, status and important contributions of the deceased besides the information related to death.While the newspapers provide us with timely information about funeral and related services, the media portrayal and presentation of the deceased has a great social and cultural significance. This portrayal serves various social purposes. Obituaries are a source to pay respect to the departed and to offer condolence to the survivors/ family members. Theseconstitute an influential way in which people in different societies construct and show their personal relations and concerns for one another. These also provide insights into dominant vs. dominated power relations in a society. Thus, the study of projection of gender in these obituaries gathers significance in terms of presentation of identity from personal, professional, and social standpoints. In this backdrop the current research deals with the presentation of gender identity construction in obituaries through a content analysis of data collected from Pakistani English and Urdu newspapers.2. Pakistani ContextSociety as an institution determines roles, responsibilities, rules and norms for its individuals. As far as Pakistani society is concerned it is patriarchal in nature. It has traditionally allotted women the responsibilities of domestic affairs while men, being earning members of the society, hold positions and ranks in public and professional life and enjoy authority. This difference and discrimination is not only in roles and positions they acquire and hold but also the presentation of their individual identities in media. Irshad and Rasul (2004: p.33) discuss that the naming strategies adopted in the newspapers serve to highlight the subordinate role of women in society and further suggest that women are more frequently labeled in their private roles as wives, brides and widows while men are depicted in their professional roles.In this context media has a very important position. In Pakistani society where media serves the purpose of providing information, it also reflects society's norms, attitudes, beliefs and perceptions of the society. …