A Cluster Analysis of the Reportage “Chinese Women Protest at Gynaecology Checks for Civil Service Jobs” in the Guardian

Abstract

Drawing upon Kenneth Burke’s cluster analysis, this article explores how the guardian journalist Jonathan Kaiman in his news article “Chinese women protest at gynecology checks for civil service jobs” constructs his rhetoric in convincing the audience of the ideology of gender discrimination in the practice of gynecological examination to women civil service applicants in China. The analysis reveals that civil service “examination” in China has been transformed into gynecological “examination”, which is clearly a discrimination against women applicants. In the end, the author argues that the ideology of gender inequality perpetuated by official levels in China is the primary reason why women civil service applicants have to undergo gynecological examinations. Only by eliminating the ideology of gender inequality that exists in official levels can it really enable women to compete with men equally in job application.

Keywords: Cluster analysis, Gender discrimination, Gynecological examination, Civil service examinations