ANALYSIS OF VISUAL IMAGES OF WOMEN IN THE MILITARY IN CHINESE AND UKRAINIAN ONLINE MEDIA IN THE YEARS 2020 – EARLY 2022

Abstract

The peculiarities of the formation of military women‟s images in Ukraine and the People's Republic of China (PRC) had been examined in the article. The Armed Forces of Ukraine and the People's Liberation Army of China are in the process of rapid modernization. The beginning of a full-scale war against Ukraine and China's significant influence on the future of world politics brought military issues into focus. Available or free access Internet Media space of Ukraine and China with assistance of search engines Google and Baidu had been analysed in the study. According to modern geopolitical situation in the world, period of study of two years before full-scaled Russian invasion in Ukraine had been chosen. Images, as well as texts, are sources of information about various aspects of social and cultural phenomena. Their analysis requires mastery of a complex of methodological and interpretive practices. We considered images of military women as a product of social construction and carriers of cultural semantics. The authors of the article, using the supplemented and expanded scheme of photo analysis by P. Shtompka, investigated the norms, rituals, customs, values and lifestyle of military women of Ukraine and the People's Republic of China shown on photos. In addition to comparing images of female military personnel in the armies of the People's Republic of China and Ukraine, the study compared images of men and women and military women and women of other professions (in the same Internet publications). The detection of gender stereotypes, faceism in advertising and publications for women is a popular topic in the world and domestic scientific discourse. The images we have studied largely contrast military women with stereotypical images of female consumers. Typical forms of visual representation of women in the army through illustrations in Internet publications had been highlighted. The main formats are: parade photos, "difficult army everyday life", "achievements and military career". Involvement of women in the security forces requires images of idealized fighters. In the analysed images of Chinese publications, this idealization contains elements of ageism and sexualization, in particular in advertising and poster and parade scenes. The colours deserve special attention in the ceremonial photos. Differences were found in the depiction of the beauty of military women in Ukrainian and Chinese media. It was concluded that the distribution of images of military women in Internet publications can be a practice of gender egalitarianism.