Gender stereotype as a vehicle for social change? The case of the Kong girl

Munkyung Agnes KANG; Hoi Ying, Catherine CHEN

doi:10.1558/genl.31607

Gender stereotype as a vehicle for social change? The case of the Kong girl

Munkyung Agnes KANG, Hoi Ying, Catherine CHEN

Department of English

Research output: Journal Publications › Journal Article (refereed) › peer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Kong Girl stereotype has been circulating in the media since the mid-2000s. The indexical process of associating social meanings to the Kong Girl label becomes heightened in situations of uncertainty and change. Kira Hall uses the term 'indexical dissonance' to explain the state of identity under globalisation. In this paper, we identify three strategies by which more 'positive' representations of Kong Girls emerge: (1) the Kong Girl label shifts in semantic meaning; (2) the specific Kong Girl qualities taken as stance objects shift; and (3) the Kong Girl label is reappropriated. Through these strategies, we show how the meanings associated with a gender stereotype may be co-opted in emerging discourses of social change.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	460-481
Number of pages	22
Journal	Gender and Language
Volume	11
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.31607
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2017

Bibliographical note

This paper was first presented at IGALA 9. This article also presented as research paper at the Sociolinguistics of Globalization conference in June 2015 at the University of Hong Kong.

Keywords

Evaluation
Gender stereotype
Indexicality
Reappropriation
Stancetaking

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10.1558/genl.31607

Cite this

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abstract = "The Kong Girl stereotype has been circulating in the media since the mid-2000s. The indexical process of associating social meanings to the Kong Girl label becomes heightened in situations of uncertainty and change. Kira Hall uses the term 'indexical dissonance' to explain the state of identity under globalisation. In this paper, we identify three strategies by which more 'positive' representations of Kong Girls emerge: (1) the Kong Girl label shifts in semantic meaning; (2) the specific Kong Girl qualities taken as stance objects shift; and (3) the Kong Girl label is reappropriated. Through these strategies, we show how the meanings associated with a gender stereotype may be co-opted in emerging discourses of social change.",

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Gender stereotype as a vehicle for social change? The case of the Kong girl

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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