Socially-situated gender identities in Pakistani advertisement: A critical discourse analysis of Linguistic and Cultural Norms

Abstract

Advertising is an important form of discourse that cuts across several fields, including linguistics, media, and gender studies. This research analyzes the Ariel Matic advertisement “Why is laundry only a mother’s job?” using Critical Discourse Analysis. Based on the three dimensions of Norman Fairclough’s model—description, interpretation, and explanation—the research examines the role of language and the accompanying visuals in the construction, reproduction, and contestation of gender identities in the Pakistani context. In the analysis, the text’s ideological undercurrents are revealed through an examination of the discourse, vocabulary, and visual semiotics. The advertisement is highly inventive in the rhetorical and discursive strategies it employs to dismantle the patriarchal assumption that domestic work, and in particular laundry, is the sole responsibility of women. The Matic advertisement argues for the agency of women and the revision of dominant gender roles, showing its dual social ideological relevance of Pakistan in South Asia.