Gender Representation in Language of Constitutions: A Cross Cultural Corpus Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

Gender Representation in constitutional discourse refers to the acknowledgement, description and consideration of gender(s) in the law. This research explores representation of gender in the constitutions of ten countries by analyzing the use of gendered and gender-neutral terms. The research uses corpus analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to discover how the language in constitutions builds and reflects beliefs about gender and affects power dynamics in a society. To understand the legal impact of gender, the research examines the terms "woman," "women," "man," "men," "he," "she," "his," "her," "mother," "father," "citizen," and "person.", and displayed that although constitutions now use gender-neutral terms, many laws in these countries still use words that represent traditional gender roles. Findings revealed that the law in South Africa, Sweden, and France is designed to reduce the role of gender in legal matters and to create equal opportunity for all, whereas Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan still use patriarchal ideas by referring to men and women differently and assigning special roles to women in family and inheritance systems. Through this research, it is concluded that, while gender-neutral terms help with legal equality, keeping gendered terms in the law maintains old gender roles, so more legal reforms are necessary to include all genders. Future studies may investigate how language in legal texts affects people’s views on gender roles and ways to rewrite legal language to encourage gender equality.