Emoji and Text as Tools to Frame Gender Stereotypes in Instagram Captions : A Critical Discourse Analysis of @gymshark and @gymsharkwomen

Abstract

This thesis analyzes emoji use and textual elements in the Instagram captions of Gymshark’s two accounts, @gymshark and @gymsharkwomen. Gymshark is a retail company who produces athletic clothing items and accessories. The goal of this study is to first analyze whether emoji use is different in the two accounts and their target audience of mostly male followers versus primarily female followers. The second object of this thesis is to detect how gender stereotypes are framed and reinforced with the use of emoji and text in the captions, first analyzing the emoji and then the textual elements. The theoretical framework for this thesis is based on Critical Discourse Analysis and Goffman’s (1974) frame analysis, and Brummett’s (2019) definition of close reading is used as a method for analyzing the material. The results of the study indicate that in both Instagram accounts the captions reinforce traditional gender stereotypes, with @gymshark embodying more masculine characteristics through emoji and textual features, while @gymsharkwomen includes more feminine characteristics. The use of the emoji in the captions is different in the two accounts, and the textual style and grammatical features differ considerably depending on which account the captions are posted. Both accounts frame the genders in the context of sports in accordance with stereotypical media representation of athletes, where female athletes are not given equal recognition for their athletic competencies compared to male athletes. This thesis fills a research gap in studying emoji within linguistics, especially how they are used as framing tools, as well as how their use varies according to a target audience, which offers possibilities for future research on this topic.