Gendered Expressions in Students’ Desk Graffiti: A Linguistic Analysis

Abstract

Graffiti is the individual and open communication that enables students to express both linguistically and visually emotions, identities, and social experiences. Although most commonly perceived as vandalism or a disciplinary issue, recent academic literature regards graffiti as an important location of student identity, resistance, and self-expression. This paper explores the gendered linguistic representations of classroom desk graffiti done by male students and female students in segregated and colleges and universities in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Using the theory of Genderlect proposed by Deborah Tanner and the research conducted by Janet Holmes about the linguistic and gender determinants of speech, the research is based on the idea that gender affects communicative style and language preferences. Applying a combined analytical approach between Fairclough, van Dijk and Kress and van Leeuwen, the research paper determines the main linguistic characteristics that include adjectives, metaphors, choice of pronouns, symbolic processes, salience, polarization and memory forms. The results indicate gender-specific trends that are influenced by socialization, educational background, and school atmosphere and that graffiti is an important tool in the process of students negotiating identity, relationships, and emotionality.