Phraseological Markers of Gender Stereotypes in Modern Media (by the Example of a Group of Physical Characteristics)

   The article discusses the peculiarities of the use of phraseological units with the meaning of physical characteristics of men and women in media texts.

   The aim of the work is to study the dynamics of ideas about the role of men and women in modern society, accumulated in stable combinations and undergoing revision in the media language (according to the newspaper corpus of the National Corpus of the Russian Language).

   A thematic classification of phraseological units is given. The frequency of their use is revealed, indicating the leading positions and gaps. The features of the use of phraseological units and the most typical ways of their transformation are analyzed. The research uses methods of observation, continuous sampling, lexicographic, lexico-semantic and contextual analysis, classification and systematization of language material. The analysis shows the strength of gender stereotypes in society, as well as attempts to change these perceptions. The use of high-frequency phraseological units strong sex, weak sex, etc. confirms the idea of the dominant position of men in society, but at the same time reflects the manifestations of positive discrimination, refutes the ideas of the strength and weakness of the sexes, about their compliance with the phraseological designations accepted in the usage. Among the units of the analyzed group, the most significant transformations of meanings in the media language undergo phraseological turns strong sex, weak sex, strong half, weak half, marriageable, dangerous age. The revealed patterns of the use of stable combinations supplement the data on the mechanisms of the development of phraseological meaning. It is shown that the structural and semantic transformation of phraseological units occurs as a result of the development of a new meaning in the context, the literalization of meaning, the expansion of the component composition, changes in standard compatibility, the creation of an ironic context.

1. Voloshina K. S. Frazeologizm kak sredstvo konceptualizacii ponyatiya "gender". Avtoref. diss. kand. filol. nauk [Phraseology as a means of conceptualizing the concept of "gender". Cand. philol. sci. abstract diss.]. Nal'chik, 2010. 25 p.

2. Solov'eva N. S. Dinamika gendernyh stereotipov v anglijskoj i russkoj yazykovyh kartinah mira (na materiale frazeologii). Avtoref. diss. kand. filol. nauk [Dynamics of gender stereotypes in English and Russian language pictures of the world (based on phraseology). Cand. philol. sci. abstract diss.]. Volgograd, 2008. 20 p.

3. Chibysheva O. A. Koncept "zhenshchina" v russkoj i anglijskoj frazeologii (na materiale predmetnyh frazeologizmov, imenuyushchih zhenshchinu). Avtoref. diss. kand. filol. nauk [The concept of "woman" in Russian and English phraseology (based on the material of subject phraseological units naming a woman). Cand. philol. sci. abstract diss.]. Chelyabinsk, 2005. 24 p.

4. Zykova S. A. Specifika realizacii koncepta "muzhestvennost'" v yazykovoj kartine mira (na materiale russkogo i ispanskogo yazykov). Avtoref. diss. kand. filol. nauk [The specifics of the implementation of the concept of "masculinity" in the linguistic picture of the world (based on the material of Russian and Spanish). Cand. philol. sci. abstract diss.]. Tyumen', 2009. 22 p.

5. Semenova D. V. Gendernyj aspekt konceptual'nogo analiza leksem "muzhchina" i "zhenshchina" (na materiale frazeologii anglijskogo, russkogo i kabardinskogo yazykov). Avtoref. diss. kand. filol. nauk [Gender aspect of the conceptual analysis of the lexemes "man" and "woman" (based on the phraseology of English, Russian and Kabardian languages). Cand. philol. sci. abstract diss.]. Nal'chik, 2006. 25 p.

6. Teliya V. N. Russkaya frazeologiya: semanticheskij, pragmaticheskij i lingvokul'turologicheskij aspekty [Russian phraseology: semantic, pragmatic and linguoculturological aspects]. Moscow, Yazyki russkoj kul'tury Publ., 1996. 288 p.

7. Birih A. K., Mokienko V. M., Stepanova L. I. Russkaya frazeologiya. Istoriko-etimologicheskij slovar': ok. 6000 frazeologizmov [Russian phraseology. Historical and etymological dictionary: about 6000 phraseological units]; ed. by V. M. Mokienko. Moscow, Astrel': AST: Lyuks Publ., 2005. 926 p.

8. Frazeologicheskij slovar' russkogo literaturnogo yazyka [Phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language]; ed. by A. I. Fedorov. Moscow, Izdatel'stvo AST Publ., 2001. 720 p.

9. Zykova I. V. [Strong sex]. Bol'shoj frazeologicheskij slovar' russkogo yazyka [Big phraseological dictionary of the Russian language]; ed. by E. N. Teliya. Moscow, AST-Press Publ., 2006. (In Russ.). Available at: http://rus-yaz.niv.ru/doc/phraseological-dictionary/articles/676/silnyj-pol.htm.

10. Gazetnyj korpus russkogo yazyka [Russian Russian language newspaper corpus]. Nacional'nyj korpus russkogo yazyka [National Corpus of the Russian language]. Available at: https://ruscorpora.ru/search?search=CgQyAggDMAE=.

11. Zykova I. V. [The weaker sex]. Bol'shoj frazeologicheskij slovar' russkogo yazyka [Big phraseological dictionary of the Russian language]; ed. by E. N. Teliya. Moscow, AST-Press Publ., 2006. (In Russ.). Available at: http://rus-yaz.niv.ru/doc/phraseological-dictionary/articles/685/slabyj-pol.htm.

12. [Dangerous age]. Enciklopedicheskij slovar' krylatyh slov i vyrazhenij [Encyclopedic dictionary of winged words and expressions]. Moscow, Lokid-Press Publ., 2003. (In Russ.). Available at: https://rus-wingwords-dict.slovaronline.com/2247-Opasnyi vozrast

13. Bespalova E. A. Frazeologizmy mifologicheskogo proiskhozhdeniya s komponentom - precedentnym imenem: osobennosti stroeniya i upotrebleniya (na primere gazetnyh tekstov) [Phraseological units of mythological origin with a component - a precedent name: features of structure and use (on the example of newspaper texts)]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Filologiya = Bulletin of Tomsk State University. Philology, 2021, no. 69, pp. 29-46.

14. Popova G. V. Organizaciya hudozhestvennogo mira fantasticheskogo proizvedeniya: kategorial'nye ponyatiya (na materiale dilogii O. Gromyko "God Krysy") [The organization of the artistic world of a fantastic work: categorical concepts (based on the material of O. Gromyko's dilogy "The Year of the Rat")]. Nauchnyj dialog = Scientific Dialogue, 2021, no. 9, pp. 200-216.

15. Stepykin N. I. Associativnyj eksperiment i metod konceptual'nyh kart kak instrumenty issledovaniya struktury i soderzhaniya koncepta [Associative experiment and the method of conceptual maps as tools for the study of the structure and content of the concept]. Izvestiya Yugo-Zapadnogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. = Proceedings of the Southwest State University, 2012, no. 4-1 (43), pp. 248-251.

16. Stepykin N. I. Small talk kak stereotip verbal'nogo povedeniya [Smalltalk as stereotypes of verbal behavior]. Vestnik Moskovskogo gosudarstvennogo lingvisticheskogo universiteta = Bulletin of the Moscow State Linguistic University, 2010, no. 584, pp. 209-218.