The semantics of gender, sexuality and women in the Malaysian editorial cartoon Senyum Kambing

Abstract

In the paper, we analyze the syndicated editorial cartoon Senyum Kambing in the mainstream newspaper Utusan Malaysia using a cognitive-linguistics approach to reveal the conceptualization of issues relating to women. This method of analysis focuses on the schemas underlying the language and metaphors in the portrayals of Malaysian women in the editorial cartoons. Out of 715 cartoon strips produced between 2005 and 2007, only 97 (13.3 percent) make references to women. Three main categories of women appear to dominate the samples: women celebrities, politicians and women in power (minister’s wives and women holding high public office). Our analysis reveals that they are often conceptualized in the emotional and domestic domains rather than the rational domain. The results also show negative stereotyping and negation or trivialization of the achievements of these women.