(Mis)representation of the LGBT Community through Nomination and Categorisation: The Case of Nur Sajat in The Star

Mohd Amirulfikri Roslani, Marlina Jamal

Abstract


The purpose of this study is to explore how the Malaysian newspaper The Star represents the LGBT community, specifically Nur Sajat, a local transgender woman, in their published news articles. This study employs van Leeuwen’s theory of representation of social actors to investigate how nomination and categorisation strategies are employed in portraying Nur Sajat. Previous studies related to the representation of the LGBT community have only focused on coverage and content released as opposed to looking at them as social actors per se. The study first gathered 29 news articles published by The Star from February 2021 to February 2022 as a corpus. Secondly, through Critical Discourse Analysis, the corpus then underwent nomination and categorisation analyses to identify how Nur Sajat is represented in terms of her unique and shared identities. The findings indicate that The Star misrepresents Nur Sajat through deadnaming and misgendering, which undermines her transgender identity. Despite portraying her as a successful businesswoman, negative depictions resembling criminal profiling are also highlighted. Media might better engage language associated with sensitivity and accuracy in line with legal and societal norms. Recognising diverse gender identities and sexual orientation converges ethical journalism; thus, media coverage might better comply with legal mandates and evolving societal attitudes. Finally, future research could expand on this study by comparing representation strategies of the LGBT community across various Malaysian media outlets.

 

Keywords: critical discourse analysis; LGBT; news discourse; transgender; representation of social actors


Full Text:

PDF

References


Åkerlund, M. (2019). Representations of trans people in Swedish newspapers. Journalism Studies, 20(9), 1319–1338. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2018.1513816

Alagappar, P. N., & Kaur, K. (2009). The representation of homosexuality: A content analysis in a Malaysian newspaper. Language in India, 9, 24–47.

Amaya, J. F. S., & González, O. R. (2019). Introduction to the Special Issue: Challenges of LGBT research in the 21st century. In International Sociology (Vol. 34, Issue 4, pp. 371–381). SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1177/0268580919856490

Asad, S., Mohd Noor, S. N. F. B., & Bin Jaes, L. (2019). Social actors’ representation in online Malaysian newspapers during elections: A transitivity analysis of newspaper text. Humanities and Social Sciences Reviews, 7(4), 580–589. https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2019.7478

Asia Pacific Transgender Network. (2017). Legal gender recognition in Malaysia: A legal & policy review in the context of human rights.

The Associated Press. (2016). The Associated Press Stylebook 2016. Basic Books.

Baker, P. (2014). “Bad wigs and screaming Mimis”: Using corpus-assisted techniques to carry out critical discourse analysis of the representation of trans people in the British press. In C. Hart & P. Cap (Eds.), Contemporary Critical Discourse Studies (1st ed., pp. 211–236). Bloomsbury Publishing.

Barker-Plummer, B. (2013). Fixing Gwen: News and the mediation of (trans)gender challenges. Feminist Media Studies, 13(4), 710–724. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2012.679289

Bonyadi, A. (2010). The rhetorical properties of the schematic structures of newspaper editorials: A comparative study of english and persian editorials. Discourse and Communication, 4(4), 323–342. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481310381579

Capuzza, J. C. (2016). Improvements still needed for transgender coverage. Newspaper Research Journal, 37(1), 82–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739532916634642

Chu, M. M. (2019, September 13). Survey: The Star most read English newspaper, online news site. The Star. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/09/13/survey-star-most-read-english-newspaper-online-news-site

Eberl, J.-M., Meltzer, C. E., Heidenreich, T., Herrero, B., Theorin, N., Lind, F., Berganza, R., Boomgaarden, H. G., Schemer, C., & Strömbäck, J. (2018). The European media discourse on immigration and its effects: A literature review. Annals of the International Communication Association, 42(3), 207–223.

https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2018.1497452

Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical discourse analysis: the critical study of language. Longman.

Fongkaew, K., Khruataeng, A., Unsathit, S., Khamphiirathasana, M., Jongwisan, N., Arlunaek, O., & Byrne, J. (2019). “Gay guys are shit-lovers” and “lesbians are obsessed With fingers”:The (mis)representation of LGBTIQ people in Thai news media. Journal of Homosexuality, 66(2), 260–273.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2017.1398026

Gold, M. (2018, June 21). The ABCs of L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/style/lgbtq-gender-language.html

Gong, J., Firdaus, A., Aksar, I. A., Alivi, M. A., & Xu, J. (2023). Intertextuality and ideology: Social actor’s representation in handling of COVID-19 from China Daily. Journalism, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849231157243

Gupta, K. (2019). Response and responsibility: Mainstream media and Lucy Meadows in a post-Leveson context. Sexualities, 22(1–2), 31–47. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460717740259

Haridi, N. H. M., & Salleh, N. M. (2016). Kumpulan Lesbian, Gay, Biseksual dan Transgander (LGBT) ancaman terhadap keamanan dan keharmonian beragama di Malaysia. Islam Realitas: Journal of Islamic & Social Studies, 2(2), 211–218. https://doi.org/10.30983/islam_realitas.v2i2.190

Head, J. (2021, November 19). Malaysian transgender woman Nur Sajat: 'I had to run away'. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-59286774

Ismail, H., Baharun, H., Abdullah, H., & Majid, S. N. A. (2020). Power and voices of authority in the media narrative of Malaysian natives: Combining corpus linguistics and discourse analysis approaches. 3L: The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 26(2), 50–66. https://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2020-2602-04

Jerome, C., Ting, S.-H., Podin, Y., & Ahmad, S. S. W. (2021). Public receptivity towards LGBT in recent times Malaysia: LGBT perspectives. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(14), 371–383. https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v11-i14/8943

Kasemcharoenwong, P. (2014). We live in the same world: A corpus-based study investigated through “transgender.” Doing Research in Applied Linguistics 2/Independent Learning Association Conference 2014, 27–36.

Klaisingto, P., & Aroonmanakun, W. (2010). Thai gender ideology: A view from representations of social actors in crime news headlines. Manusya: Journal of Humanities Regular, 13(2), 37–49.

Li, M. (2019). (Mis)matching: Journalistic uses of gender pronouns and names can influence implicit attitudes toward transgender people, perceived news content credibility, and perceived reporter professionalism. Newspaper Research Journal, 40(4), 517–533. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739532919873083

Lin, K., Button, D. M., Su, M., & Chen, S. (2016). Chinese college students' attitudes toward homosexuality: Exploring the effects of traditional culture and modernising factors. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 13(2), 158–172. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-016-0223-3

Machin, D., & Mayr, A. (2012). How to do critical discourse analysis: A multimodal introduction. SAGE.

Malik, Q.-A., Ali, A., & Fahad, S. (2022). Newspaper representation of transgender in Pakistan: A multi-modal analysis. Pakistan Journal of Gender Studies, 22(2), 101–120.

Manalastas, E. J., Ojanen, T. T., Torre, B. A., Ratanashevorn, R., Hong, B. C. C., Kumaresan, V., & Veeramuthu, V. (2017). Homonegativity in Southeast Asia: Attitudes toward lesbians and gay men in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Asia-Pacific Social Science Review, 17(1), 25–33.

Mara, L.-C., Ginieis, M., & Brunet-Icart, I. (2021). Strategies for coping with LGBT discrimination at work: A systematic literature review. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 18, 339–354.

McCrum, K. (2016, March 30). Transgender woman sexually abused in male prison says the fight for equality continues. Mirror. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/transgender-woman-sexually-abused-male-7654698

McLemore, K. A. (2015). Experiences with misgendering: Identity misclassification of transgender spectrum individuals. Self and Identity, 14(1), 51–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2014.950691

Mendos, L. R., Botha, K., Lelis, R. C., López, E. D. L. P., Savelev, I., & Tan, D. (2020). State-sponsored homophobia: Global legislation overview update. https://ilga.org/downloads/ILGA_World_State_Sponsored_Homophobia_report_global_legislation_overview_update_December_2020.pdf

Montiel-McCann, C. S. (2022). “It’s like we are not human”: Discourses of humanisation and otherness in the representation of trans identity in British broadsheet newspapers. Feminist Media Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2022.2097727

Ninpanit, S. (2020). Critical discourse analysis of English news headlines on Thai transgender individuals from Thai and international websites. The New English Teacher, 14(2), 42–63.

Nora’eni, F. F. M., Na’im, S. N. S. M., Dzulkifli, N., Wakidan, N., & Mohamad, A. M. (2020). Acceptance and attitudes towards the LGBT. In K. A. Jasmi (Ed.), Seminar Falsafah Sains dan Ketamadunan (pp. 101–120). Akademi Tamadun Islam.

Osborn, M. (2022). U.S. news coverage of transgender victims of fatal violence: An exploratory content analysis. Violence Against Women, 28(9), 2033–2056. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012211025995

Parent, M. C., DeBlaere, C., & Moradi, B. (2013). Approaches to research on intersectionality: Perspectives on gender, LGBT, and racial/ethnic identities. Sex Roles, 68(11–12), 639–645. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-013-0283-2

Pekkarinen, A.-G. (2016). Critical discourse analysis of the representation of victims and perpetrators of sexual violence in select US news articles [Bachelor’s thesis]. University of Jyväskylä.

Sa’dan, A. A., Awang, J., & Rahman, N. F. A. (2018). A preliminary study on transgender issues: A case study on Justice for Sister (JFS) as a new social movement in Malaysia. 3rd International Seminar on Islamic Thought, 96–111.

Salami, A., & Ghajarieh, A. (2016). Culture and gender representation in Iranian school textbooks. Sexuality and Culture, 20(1), 69–84. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-015-9310-5

Seely, N. (2021). Reporting on transgender victims of homicide: Practices of misgendering, sourcing and transparency. Newspaper Research Journal, 42(1), 74–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739532921989872

Sinclair-Palm, J., & Chokly, K. (2023). ‘It’s a giant faux pas’: Exploring young trans people’s beliefs about deadnaming and the term deadname. Journal of LGBT Youth, 20(2), 370–389. https://doi.org/10.1080/19361653.2022.2076182

Subir, S. Z. (2019). Analysing news coverage on homosexuality in Malay language newspapers in Malaysia, 1998-2012. Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 35(4), 83–100. https://doi.org/10.17576/JKMJC-2019-3504-06

Tan, K. K. H. (2022). “We do not want to punish, we just want to educate”: A scoping review of attitudes towards LGBTQ among Malaysians. Asia-Pacific Social Science Review, 22(4), 114–129. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/366926967

Ting, S. H., Chuah, K.-M., Jerome, C., & Johnson, A. (2022). Spotlight on LGBT in Malaysian online newspapers: Insights from textual analytics. EDPACS, 65(6), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/07366981.2021.1958733

Ting, S. H., Johnson, A., & Jerome, C. (2021). Backgrounding of LGBT in newspaper coverage in Malaysia. Asian Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 3(2), 1–13.

van Dijk, T. A. (1988). News as discourse. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

van Dijk, T. A. (2001). Critical discourse analysis. In D. Schiffrin, D. Tannen, & H. E. Hamilton (Eds.), The handbook of discourse analysis (pp. 352–371). Blackwell Publishers.

van Leeuwen, T. (2008). The representation of social actors. In C. R. Caldas-Coulthard & M. Coulthard (Eds.), Texts and practices: Readings in critical discourse analysis (pp. 32–70). Routledge.

Wood, F., Carrillo, A., & Monk-Turner, E. (2022). Visibly unknown: Media depiction of murdered transgender women of color. Race and Justice, 12(2), 368–386. https://doi.org/10.1177/2153368719886343

Zhang, K., Lu, C., & Zhang, J. (2022). Chinese media representations of tongzhi (2009–2019). Discourse and Communication, 16(3), 305–325. https://doi.org/10.1177/17504813221101822

Zottola, A. (2019). (Trans)gender in the news: specialised language in the UK press: A corpus-based discourse analysis. Lingue e Linguaggi, 29, 461–480. https://doi.org/10.1285/i22390359v29p461




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/3L-2024-3002-05

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


 

 

 

eISSN : 2550-2247

ISSN : 0128-5157