This documentary research aimed at examining representations of Lao women in publications, articles and pictures in Lao magazines which were publicized by private and semi-private sectors. The status of Lao women under the neo-imagination age was viewed through the lens of globalization. The study of representation of these women was conducted through three magazines: Update, Lao Youthsand Mahachon. The analysis frameworks consisted of integrated feminism, constructivism, and representations of women. It was found that these three magazines presented the representations of Lao women in four manners: women and health, women and traditional roles, women and commercial products, and women and social status. They constructed good qualities of women and defined women’s roles under the imposed conditions from sexual prejudices of patriarchal capitalism. Mass media institutions in the globalized age expected women to consume productsthat were produced under a capitalistic system in an attempt to encourage modern women to focus on materialism rather than on knowledge.
|