title: The Representation of Gender in Contemporary Chinese Television Advertising: An Analysis of Content, Meaning, and Production

authors: Shao, Yun

subjects: advertising

abstract: This thesis examines how gender is portrayed in Chinese television commercials and how these representations reflect the social and cultural contexts of their production and the institutional practices of advertising production personnel. To date, while there have been a plethora of studies on gender representation in advertising in western contexts only limited attention has been given to Chinese advertising portrayals of gender. This study, therefore, explores particular ways in which femininity and masculinity are discursively constructed, and how this process, in turn, contributes to reinforcing and/or challenging certain gender ideologies, in particular those found in Chinese Confucian culture. The study is unique in its approach to Chinese television advertising in that it combines methods from textual analysis (quantitative content analysis, semiotic analysis and critical discourse analysis) and empirical research (interview). A sample of 679 television commercials was collected and analysed in this investigation. Content analysis was initially applied to identify recurrent patterns and characteristics of gender representation which, in turn, formed the basis for in-depth semiotic and discourse analysis. Specific signs, images, codes, discourses and myths were subsequently discussed. The study also included semi-structured interviews with 26 Chinese advertising personnel in order to understand their multiple dispositions toward gender and their actual experiences of depicting female and male characters in the creative process. Several main findings emerged from this study. The portrayal of gender in Chinese television commercials is complex because it embodies a series of simultaneously conflicting and complementary discourses on what constitute femininity and masculinity. The results of the content analysis revealed that the representation of gender in this study’s sample still remains stereotypical in terms of the different distribution of the sexes across product category, role, dress, age, credibility and voice-over. By focusing on the constructs of gender in domestic, occupational and recreational contexts, the use of semiotic and discourse analysis revealed that Chinese television advertising not only portrays women and men in line with the significant aspects embedded in both Chinese and western patriarchal traditions, but is also constitutive of cultural shifts in gender ideologies through highlighting modern (western) values. In addition, the interview findings yielded support for the conclusions of textual analysis, demonstrating that the process of advertising production is significantly influenced by traditional and modern gender values, the restriction of advertising regulations, client expectations, and the professionals’ divergent perceptions of gender and their assumptions about the audience.

text: The Representation of Gender in Contemporary Chinese Television Advertising: An Analysis of Content, Meaning, and Production This thesis examines how gender is portrayed in Chinese television commercials and how these representations reflect the social and cultural contexts of their production and the institutional practices of advertising production personnel. To date, while there have been a plethora of studies on gender representation in advertising in western contexts only limited attention has been given to Chinese advertising portrayals of gender. This study, therefore, explores particular ways in which femininity and masculinity are discursively constructed, and how this process, in turn, contributes to reinforcing and/or challenging certain gender ideologies, in particular those found in Chinese Confucian culture. The study is unique in its approach to Chinese television advertising in that it combines methods from textual analysis (quantitative content analysis, semiotic analysis and critical discourse analysis) and empirical research (interview). A sample of 679 television commercials was collected and analysed in this investigation. Content analysis was initially applied to identify recurrent patterns and characteristics of gender representation which, in turn, formed the basis for in-depth semiotic and discourse analysis. Specific signs, images, codes, discourses and myths were subsequently discussed. The study also included semi-structured interviews with 26 Chinese advertising personnel in order to understand their multiple dispositions toward gender and their actual experiences of depicting female and male characters in the creative process. Several main findings emerged from this study. The portrayal of gender in Chinese television commercials is complex because it embodies a series of simultaneously conflicting and complementary discourses on what constitute femininity and masculinity. The results of the content analysis revealed that the representation of gender in this study’s sample still remains stereotypical in terms of the different distribution of the sexes across product category, role, dress, age, credibility and voice-over. By focusing on the constructs of gender in domestic, occupational and recreational contexts, the use of semiotic and discourse analysis revealed that Chinese television advertising not only portrays women and men in line with the significant aspects embedded in both Chinese and western patriarchal traditions, but is also constitutive of cultural shifts in gender ideologies through highlighting modern (western) values. In addition, the interview findings yielded support for the conclusions of textual analysis, demonstrating that the process of advertising production is significantly influenced by traditional and modern gender values, the restriction of advertising regulations, client expectations, and the professionals’ divergent perceptions of gender and their assumptions about the audience.

year: 2011

title: Information Requirements in Natural Resources Law: Geothermal, Fisheries and Petroleum Compared

authors: Parson, Phoebe Ruth

subjects: Natural resources law

abstract: The purpose of this research is to demonstrate the key role of legal provisions for information in natural resource law, particularly legal provisions within a resource manager and resource developer relationship.  Using three legislative regimes, the research examines and compares information provisions’ functions substantively and procedurally. The research shows that limitations in existing provisions for information under these regimes provide important lessons for articulating optimum legal characteristics for information provisions in natural resources law for the future. The main research question: What legal characteristics are desirable in information requirements for managing natural resources? guides the analysis.
Information is at the heart of natural resource decision-making. Information provisions are instrumental in assessing the practical, economic and legal feasibility of resource development and in gauging a resource developer’s compliance with law. To understand what legal characteristics are desirable in information provisions, the thesis compares the management of three natural resources: the geothermal resource under the Resource Management Act 1991, the ocean fisheries resource under the Fisheries Act 1996, and the petroleum resource under the Crown Minerals Act 1991.  In New Zealand, either a central or regional government agency authorises and manages the use of these “subsurface” resources, with statutory requirements for information applying to both a state agency (the resource manager) and to a private developer exploiting a resource. Public accountability for resource management is established through the provision of accurate and relevant information.
The thesis uses a natural resource law lens to examine the (usually) bilateral agreement between resource manager and resource developer. Such agreements take the form of a resource-use permit or licence. To ensure that the terms of the agreement are met, a resource user must regularly provide an agency with information (and data) on how a resource is exploited. Under each legislative regime, non-statutory information management tools such as adaptive management and technical peer review facilitate and provide oversight of the natural resource agreement. The thesis analyses these mechanisms including the use of technical modelling as a regulatory tool. Using regulation theory, the research also explores the influence of the regulatory relationship on the fulfilment of information provisions and the extent to which resource users are involved in rule development and resource co-management, revealing how information problems can arise with process informality and public accountability. 


The research is significant overall because increasing demands on natural resources mean accountable decision-making is increasingly expected. Justifiable and defensible reasons for decisions are vital to long-term sustainable resource management and to human survival and flourishing. While economic justifications for resource development remain relevant, the thesis demonstrates that equitable resource management that benefits multiple interests, including the rights of Māori in natural resources, is needed. 
Significantly, despite substantial advances in industrial-scale geothermal resource exploitation and significant developments in geothermal policy and rules in New Zealand, no thorough legal analysis of geothermal resource management law has occurred in recent decades. By using the geothermal resource as its main case study resource, this research fills a gap in the legal literature. A review of geothermal resources law is therefore valuable and timely in guiding the future management of geothermal resources into a low-carbon energy future.
Commonalities in information challenges across the three resources examined emphasise the key role of legal provisions for information broadly in natural resources law. As Aotearoa New Zealand proceeds with its largest suite of resource management law reform in thirty years, the key role of legal provisions for information in natural resources law must be realised. The study concludes that legal provisions for information in natural resources law must support multilateral interests, contain functional clarity, and provide formalised processes and links with meta-goals that reach beyond each legal regime’s purpose.

text: Information Requirements in Natural Resources Law: Geothermal, Fisheries and Petroleum Compared The purpose of this research is to demonstrate the key role of legal provisions for information in natural resource law, particularly legal provisions within a resource manager and resource developer relationship.  Using three legislative regimes, the research examines and compares information provisions’ functions substantively and procedurally. The research shows that limitations in existing provisions for information under these regimes provide important lessons for articulating optimum legal characteristics for information provisions in natural resources law for the future. The main research question: What legal characteristics are desirable in information requirements for managing natural resources? guides the analysis.
Information is at the heart of natural resource decision-making. Information provisions are instrumental in assessing the practical, economic and legal feasibility of resource development and in gauging a resource developer’s compliance with law. To understand what legal characteristics are desirable in information provisions, the thesis compares the management of three natural resources: the geothermal resource under the Resource Management Act 1991, the ocean fisheries resource under the Fisheries Act 1996, and the petroleum resource under the Crown Minerals Act 1991.  In New Zealand, either a central or regional government agency authorises and manages the use of these “subsurface” resources, with statutory requirements for information applying to both a state agency (the resource manager) and to a private developer exploiting a resource. Public accountability for resource management is established through the provision of accurate and relevant information.
The thesis uses a natural resource law lens to examine the (usually) bilateral agreement between resource manager and resource developer. Such agreements take the form of a resource-use permit or licence. To ensure that the terms of the agreement are met, a resource user must regularly provide an agency with information (and data) on how a resource is exploited. Under each legislative regime, non-statutory information management tools such as adaptive management and technical peer review facilitate and provide oversight of the natural resource agreement. The thesis analyses these mechanisms including the use of technical modelling as a regulatory tool. Using regulation theory, the research also explores the influence of the regulatory relationship on the fulfilment of information provisions and the extent to which resource users are involved in rule development and resource co-management, revealing how information problems can arise with process informality and public accountability. 


The research is significant overall because increasing demands on natural resources mean accountable decision-making is increasingly expected. Justifiable and defensible reasons for decisions are vital to long-term sustainable resource management and to human survival and flourishing. While economic justifications for resource development remain relevant, the thesis demonstrates that equitable resource management that benefits multiple interests, including the rights of Māori in natural resources, is needed. 
Significantly, despite substantial advances in industrial-scale geothermal resource exploitation and significant developments in geothermal policy and rules in New Zealand, no thorough legal analysis of geothermal resource management law has occurred in recent decades. By using the geothermal resource as its main case study resource, this research fills a gap in the legal literature. A review of geothermal resources law is therefore valuable and timely in guiding the future management of geothermal resources into a low-carbon energy future.
Commonalities in information challenges across the three resources examined emphasise the key role of legal provisions for information broadly in natural resources law. As Aotearoa New Zealand proceeds with its largest suite of resource management law reform in thirty years, the key role of legal provisions for information in natural resources law must be realised. The study concludes that legal provisions for information in natural resources law must support multilateral interests, contain functional clarity, and provide formalised processes and links with meta-goals that reach beyond each legal regime’s purpose.

year: 2022

title: Through the eyes of whānau: Destruction of cultural identity through education

authors: Ngaamo, Raewyn Brenda

subjects: Māori

abstract: This thesis examines how the schooling experiences of a dual cultural heritage whānau influenced the development of their identity, their language and culture across three generations. Koro, Tuakana, Teina and Moko share their experiences with us and through these stories reveal how they were forced through the colonising beliefs and practices of schooling to reshape themselves in a bid to belong. The compromise and abuse of cultural identity in wider society, replicated and validated in schooling, created a vicious and dehumanising experience for each of them. School was a major site of assimilation for this whānau. They experienced racism, rejection, low expectations and cultural disconnection across the three generations. They suffered particularly as dual heritage children who experienced rejection and racial micro aggressions from both Pākehā and Māori alike. Instead of education being a means to realise their potential and to achieve success it was actually the vehicle for the destruction of their cultural identity.

text: Through the eyes of whānau: Destruction of cultural identity through education This thesis examines how the schooling experiences of a dual cultural heritage whānau influenced the development of their identity, their language and culture across three generations. Koro, Tuakana, Teina and Moko share their experiences with us and through these stories reveal how they were forced through the colonising beliefs and practices of schooling to reshape themselves in a bid to belong. The compromise and abuse of cultural identity in wider society, replicated and validated in schooling, created a vicious and dehumanising experience for each of them. School was a major site of assimilation for this whānau. They experienced racism, rejection, low expectations and cultural disconnection across the three generations. They suffered particularly as dual heritage children who experienced rejection and racial micro aggressions from both Pākehā and Māori alike. Instead of education being a means to realise their potential and to achieve success it was actually the vehicle for the destruction of their cultural identity.

year: 2019