‘Next time stay in your war room and pray for your boys’ or return to your kitchen: Sexist discourses in Ghana’s 2019 National Science and Math Quiz
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Date
2021
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SAGE
Abstract
This paper examines the representations of women in the discourses on the 2019 edition of
Ghana’s National Science and Math Quiz. With data from online news articles and three social
media outlets, the study examines stereotypical views about gender and Science/Math while
exploring the relationship between language, gender, and culture. We focus on how the authors
use memes, images and some linguistic strategies to instantiate certain (Ghanaian) gender norms
and practices. Findings suggest that women who pursue (academic) excellence, especially in male dominated fields like Science and Math, are usurpers who need to be kept where they ‘belong’.
They are thus presented in particular stereotypical ways – homemakers, supporters, objects of
sex and beauty, ‘unfit’ for science/math. Using Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis, which makes
room for uncovering, contesting and reinterpreting the ‘hidden agendas’ of discourse, we also
analyze nuances of the representations, some of which we (re)interpret as representations of
women’s power.
Description
|Research Article
Keywords
Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis, gender stereotypes, hegemonic femininity, hegemonic masculinity, National Science and Math Quiz, representation, social media