GENDER STEREOTYPES IN THE LANGUAGE OF MODERN MEDIA

Abstract

The article clarifies the meaning of concepts “gender”, “gender stereotype”; it is emphasized that gender stereotypes affect the perception, memorization and interpretation of information by a person due to the ideas formed in his/her mind about the masculine and feminine. A review of the works of Ukrainian and foreign scholars on the study of gender stereotypes has been carried out, the current aspects of the research have been identified. The paper interprets the gender stereotype as a generalized notion in the culture of appearance, character, status and role etc. features attributed to women or men. Different approaches of researchers to the classification of gender stereotypes in the language of the media are considered. Linguistic means of expressing gender stereotypes in the language of Ukrainian media have been identified. The focus is on the description of external and professional characteristics of females and males, gender roles of men and women. It is emphasized that the description of the appearance of males and females presented in the media discourse reflects not only the author's worldview, but also socio-cultural stereotypes about their external traits and moral qualities, behavior, etc. In media texts, the appearance of women is described in more detalised way than that of men. A woman’s beauty is in her naturalness, wellgroomedness, self-confidence. The feature of a woman’s sexual attractiveness is connected with her appearance. It is emphasized in the modern media that society still has a stereotypical view of the woman-mother and wife, who primarily raises children, is engaged in everyday life. Current social and political events have led to the emergence of new gender roles, including woman-warrior and woman soldier. The language of media also reflects the professional characteristics of a woman. According to stereotypes, men hold leading positions. A woman-leader is considered to be an exception. All the dynamic processes within the gender conceptual space are the result of transformations and a new redistribution of gender stereotypes between men and women. Media discourse provides ample opportunities for further study of gender stereotypes against the background of global processes of gender development, and this may be the subject of new research.