1.1 Aim and scope
The aim of this thesis is to explore how gender stereotypes are reflected through compliments and insults produced by teen characters in the American digital television series 13 Reasons Why and Riverdale. Because the accurate interpretation of compliments and insults often depends on the interactional context, this thesis is mainly situated within the field of discourse analysis, with special attention to gender differences. The aspect of discourse in focus is evaluative moves, which include compliments and insults. The reason why evaluative moves are of interest is that they are linguistic expressions of judgment that often convey the speaker’s gender values and attitudes.
Additionally, as this thesis concerns digital television series (henceforth DTVS), how fictional discourse is treated within linguistics also has to be taken into consideration in my study. The reason why television series and movies are useful when studying stereotypes is that fictional discourse is recognized as a reflection of the society it is meant to represent, and therefore also the stereotypes that exist in that society. Thus, the use of compliments and insults in 13 Reasons Why and Riverdale, which are both contemporary teen dramas set in the United States, is interesting for the purpose of my study. In addition, with the immense growth of streaming services this past decade, series, such as 13 Reasons Why and Riverdale, have been able to reach millions both across the United States and around the world. Examining the gender stereotypes found in the discourse of these American television series could therefore not only provide insight into the stereotypes that might exist in the American society but also illuminate what stereotypes of Americans the viewers in other parts of the world are subject to.
The data used in the present study consist of 20 episodes from the American television series 13 Reasons Why and Riverdale, collectively. The evaluative moves made by the 53 teen characters included were analyzed and organized according to the type of evaluative move (compliment/insult), the givers and targets’ gender and sexual orientation, and the evaluations’
contents, which were organized into the six main categories Physical traits, Skills, Possessions, Characteristics, Sexuality, and Behavior, and their subcategories. These categories and subcategories cover evaluative moves related to physical and psychological attributes, abilities, and actions, etc. They also reflect common areas where evaluative moves are often given, and
areas where gender differences stereotypically exist. When the evaluations had been categorized, they were further analyzed for patterns that could potentially reflect different gender stereotypes.
A common approach used when analyzing stereotypes in movies and television series is the societal treatment study, where language attitudes and stereotypes are inferred by exploring the relation between the characters’ accent use and character traits. Established researchers within this field have found fairly systematic correlations, which implies that certain accents are associated with certain character traits (e.g., Lippi-Green 2012). Additionally, in relation to non-fictional discourse, researchers have argued that compliments and insults can convey gender stereotypes the speakers have about the targets (e.g., Rees-Miller 2011; Felmlee, Rodis, and Zhang 2020). The aim of the present study is to explore the intersection of these two fields; to identify which gender stereotypes can be inferred from the compliments and insults given in fictional discourse. To my knowledge, this approach to fictional discourse and stereotypes has yet to be explored.
1.2 Research questions and hypotheses
The research questions and hypotheses of the present study are inspired by various research on evaluative moves and gender stereotypes (cf. 2.4–2.5). This thesis aims to answer the following research questions:
1. Which gender gives and receives the most compliments and insults?
2. Which compliment categories and subcategories are most common for each gender?
3. Which insult categories and subcategories are most common for each gender?
4. Which existing gender stereotypes are reflected by the evaluative moves in the DTVS?
The hypotheses are outlined below.
1. The girls will give and receive the most compliments and the boys insults.
2. Both genders will give the most compliments on Physical traits.
3. The female characters will be complimented the most on their Physical traits and the male characters on their Skills.
4. The girls will give the most insults on Relationship building, and the boys will give the most on Emotional intelligence.
5. The female characters will receive the most insults related to Relationship building and Promiscuity, while the male characters will receive the most related to Emotional intelligence.
6. The existing gender stereotypes that women are supposed to be beautiful and caring and that men are supposed to be tough and skilled are reflected through evaluative moves in the DTVS.
1.3 Structure of the thesis
This thesis consists of five chapters covering different aspects of my study. The first chapter presents the aim and scope of the thesis, in addition to the research questions and hypotheses.
Chapter 2 gives an overview of the theoretical background, which focuses on discourse analysis, fictional discourse, gender stereotypes, and evaluative moves. Chapter 3 explains my methodology and discusses the data collection, compliment and insult categorization, quantitative and qualitative aspects of my study, and the methodological challenges. Chapter 4 presents and discusses my results pertaining to the evaluations overall, the compliments, and the insults. Additionally, the largest compliment and insults categories are presented and discussed separately in light of gender stereotypes. Finally, chapter 5 provides a summary of the main results and offers answers to the research questions. It also suggests some considerations for future research.