Gender Matters - Sara Mills
4. Post-feminist text analysis
Gender Matters - Sara Mills
Sara Mills [+]
Sheffield Hallam University
Sara Mills is a Research Professor in Linguistics at Sheffield Hallam University. Her most recent publications include Gender and Colonial Space (2005, Manchester University Press), Michel Foucault (Critical Thinkers Series, 2003, Routledge), Feminist Post-Colonial Theory: An Anthology (edited with Reina Lewis, 2003, Edinburgh University Press) and Gender and Politeness (2003, Cambridge University Press).
Description
This essay argues that there is a need for a new form of feminist text analysis which takes account of the changes that have occurred in feminist theory, linguistic theory, Critical Text Analysis and in sexism itself. Rather than relying on relatively simple models of interpretation, this new form of analysis– postfeminist text analysis – demonstrates awareness of the complexity and contextspecific nature of the meanings of words within texts. It is also aware of the necessity to develop new models of analysis for sexism and gender relations. In the analysis of a British advertisement for a dating agency, following this discussion I indicate directions this form of analysis might take.