Deconstructing Gender Norms and Gender Stereotypes: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Pakistani Brands’ Advertisements

Abstract

Advertisements play significant role in the reflection of society. In early times, advertisements were failed to portray the achievements of women. Women were portrayed as fragile and weak, whereas men were portrayed as strong individuals engaged in high status jobs. The aim of this study is to analyse linguistics, ideological and discursive strategies used in Pakistani advertisements and awareness campaigns to challenge and break gender stereotypes. It will also examine the impact of gender stereotypes in Pakistani advertisements on consumer’s perception of gender role and identities. Norman Fairclough’s model (1995) is used as a theoretical framework to analyse underlying ideologies and linguistic and discursive strategies used in advertisements to break gender stereotypes. In the paradigm of qualitative approach, descriptive method has been used to analyse the data. Advertisements are selected from different Pakistani TV channels and social media platforms aired during the last three years (2020-2023). The findings suggest that various strategies are used in the selected advertisements, which attempt to break gender stereotypes.