In 2016, the actress Meghan Markle met prince Harry, duke of Sussex which later on led to amarriage. This has resulted in intense media coverage of her, especially by the tabloid press,depicting her in a manner that incorporates both sexist and racist elements. This study aims toanalyze how Markle has been represented in The Sun and Daily Mail during the two firstweeks following the announcement of her relationship with Prince Harry, with a particularfocus on potential racist and sexist discourses. The material used for the study consists ofeleven articles in total, five from The Sun and six from Daily Mail. Fairclough’s criticaldiscourse analysis is used as a method to answer the research questions, along with Foucault'sdiscourse theory and intersectionality as part of the theoretical framework of the study. Theseare applied in order to add another dimension to the study and fill the research gap. The mainfindings indicate sexist and racist discourses in the representation of Meghan Markle in TheSun and Daily Mail. As for Foucault’s discourse theory these discourses constitute a reality inwhich women with diverse ethnic backgrounds are portrayed derogatorily, and whereindividuals in these categories are perceived to have less power in society. Through anintersectionality perspective, Markle is predominantly constructed as an assertive biracialwoman who frequently self-promotes, actively seeks media attention and is perceived ashaving difficulty initiating serious relationships. This shows how both sexist and racistdiscourses work together to construct Markle unfavorably.Key words: Intersectionality; Discourse; Tabloid press; Gender; Critical discourse analysis;Sexism; Racism; Media.1
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-522411 |
Date | January 2024 |
Creators | Gutiérrez Sánchez, Dana, Maja, Hansson |
Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för informatik och media |
Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
Language | Swedish |
Detected Language | English |
Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
Format | application/pdf |
Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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