REPRESENTING METROSEXUALITY IN ENGLISH-LANGUAGE NEWS PUBLISHED IN CHINA: A CORPUS-ASSISTED DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35631/IJHPL.935005Keywords:
Corpus-Assisted Discourse Analysis, China, English-Language Newspapers, Male Grooming, Masculinity, Media Representation, MetrosexualityAbstract
This study examines the representation of metrosexuality in English-language newspapers in China using a corpus-assisted discourse analytical approach. Metrosexuality has been investigated in previous research in terms of consumer culture, advertising, social media, and individual experiences, but few studies have examined how metrosexuality is represented through recurrent linguistic patterns in English news discourse. To address the gap, a corpus of 40 English newspaper articles on metrosexuality, published between 2004 and 2025, was collected to conduct a corpus-assisted discourse analysis using AntConc. The analysis employs wordlist, collocate, cluster, and Keyword in Context (KWIC) procedures to identify recurrent lexical and phraseological patterns in the representations of metrosexuality. The findings reveal four representational patterns. First, metrosexuality is reconfigured by integrating appearance management as a legitimate component of masculine identity rather than as threats to masculinity. Second, grooming practices are normalized through discourses of self-management, confidence, and personal improvement. Third, metrosexuality is prominently framed in terms of an expanding consumer economy characterized by growing cosmetic consumption and purchasing power. Finally, metrosexuality is represented as a normal expression of masculine identity among younger generations. The research contributes to English media representations of metrosexuality and corpus-assisted discourse analysis in the Chinese context.
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