GENDER, LANGUAGE, AND POWER: NAMING MISOGYNY AND FRAMING UNDERSTANDINGS OF CANADA’S MEDIASCAPE IN THE WAKE OF GENDERED VIOLENCE by Andrea M. Keber B.A., University of British Columbia, 2018 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Interdisciplinary Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Okanagan) August 2020 © Andrea M. Keber, 2020 The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the College of Graduate Studies for acceptance, a thesis/dissertation entitled: Gender, Language and Power: Naming Misogyny and Framing Understandings of Canada’s Mediascape in the Wake of Gendered Violence submitted by Andrea M. Keber in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts . Dr. Ilya Parkins, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Supervisor Dr. Christine Schreyer, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Emily Murphy, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Deana Simonetto, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences University Examiner Click or tap here to enter text. Click or tap here to enter text. ii Abstract This research centres misogyny as a focal point for discourse analysis of everyday language used to describe, discuss, justify, and frame gender-based violence and harassment, using the Toronto Van attack in April 2018 as an entry point through which to examine how language functions socially, and to explore what misogyny does. I approach the Toronto Van Attack as a case study in order to analyze the event as an instance of misogynist violence, using an intersectional feminist lens and an interdisciplinary approach guided by an awareness of our increasingly connected and networked lives. My analysis is informed by a conception of media which positions legacy print media outlets on one end of the media spectrum, linked across the technological spectrum both to their own online versions as well as newer “born-digital” media and social media. I collected, read, and analyzed mainstream news coverage as well as a sample of tweets captured from Twitter, combining qualitative and quantitative methods which included both feminist critical discourse analysis and computer-aided textual analysis in a manner which can be best described as a cyborg reading practice. It is my contention that Canada must be named and recognized as a place where mass killings of women are perpetrated, and that we must continue to talk about the misogyny, racism, homophobia, and colonialism that continue to structure everyday life. This analysis has shown that misogyny and gendered violence were either at the margins of the story or absent from the frame altogether. Misogyny must not be lost from our conversations about this event, and must continue to be discussed in order to disrupt dominant narratives which frame Canada as a progressive post-patriarchy society. iii Lay Summary When violence is discussed in a Canadian context, the way a particular instance of violence is described in news media and on social media shapes our understanding of that event in the present and for the future. The Toronto Van Attack on April 23, 2018 resulted in the deaths of ten people, eight of whom were women. This thesis examines how public perception and conversations around this tragedy evolved. My research seeks to interrogate when misogyny is named as such, where and how it is talked about (or not), what it does, and how feminisms might disrupt dominant neoliberal heteropatriarchal narratives. Where much research has focused on online misogyny in the United States, or gender-based violence in the United States, this research is specifically interested in approaching both the online and offline aspects of misogyny and gender-based violence as they take shape in a Canadian context. iv Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................ iii Lay Summary ....................................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................. v List of Figures ...................................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................. viii Dedication ............................................................................................................................................. ix Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1 Background and Definitions ............................................................................................................ 6 Research Questions ......................................................................................................................... 7 Significance .................................................................................................................................... 8 Thesis Structure ............................................................................................................................ 10 Chapter 2: Context .............................................................................................................................. 12 Theoretical Frameworks and Foundational Concepts ..................................................................... 12 Intersectional Feminisms ............................................................................................................... 13 Feminist Philosophy and Epistemologies ....................................................................................... 14 Queer Theory, Gender, Language and Feminist Linguistics ........................................................... 17 “Fragile Masculinity” and “Aggrieved Entitlement” ...................................................................... 19 Femininities and Masculinities in Popular and Digital Culture ....................................................... 20 Affective Economies ..................................................................................................................... 22 Literature Review.......................................................................................................................... 23 Feminist Media and Communications Studies ............................................................................... 28 Internet Research, Networked/Affective Publics, and Worldviews ................................................. 29 Feminist Linguistics and Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis ...................................................... 34 Significance .................................................................................................................................. 35 v Chapter 3: Methods and Methodologies ............................................................................................. 37 The Toronto Van Attack as Misogynist Violence........................................................................... 37 Data Collection and Decisions ....................................................................................................... 38 Quality and Validity ...................................................................................................................... 47 Researcher Positionality ................................................................................................................ 48 Ethical Considerations................................................................................................................... 51 Chapter 4: The Toronto Van Attack in the News ............................................................................... 60 In the News ................................................................................................................................... 60 Dominant Themes and Words ....................................................................................................... 62 Discourses, Rhetoric and Further Interpretation ............................................................................. 81 Chapter 5: The Toronto Van Attack on Twitter ................................................................................ 87 On Twitter .................................................................................................................................... 87 Dominant Themes and Words ....................................................................................................... 96 Discourses, Rhetoric, and Further Interpretation .......................................................................... 101 Chapter 6: Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 107 Feminist Neologisms ................................................................................................................... 110 Bibliography .....................................................................................................................................