Transgender Marriage in Pakistan: An Appraisal Analysis of Transphobia in Facebook Discussions

Abstract

This paper explores the APPRAISAL systems as they are enacted in (non)heteronormative discourses of the social media. The focus is on Facebook comments posted in response to broadcast media news of a fatwa issued by Pakistani clerics allowing transgender marriage in the country. In order to achieve its ends, the paper takes Martin and White’s (2005) framework to study appraisal in discourse as a theoretical framework. The analysis shows Facebook users encode a range of appraisal items to evaluate transgender individuals’ marriage. The study reveals that the differences between transphobic and transphilic argumentation are realized most notably through APPRAISAL markers of JUDGEMENT and AFFECT. The analysis further illustrates that the dialogic positioning taken by discussion participants is predominantly monoglossic (meaning one sided and totalitarian with utter disregard for alternative viewpoint and ideology) which exhibits the hold of hegemonic heteropatriarchy on the society.