Negotiating Gender Power Relationships through Language: A Critical Sociolinguistic Analysis of the Discourse on Gender Conflict in the Comment Section of Najwa Shihab's Instagram Account

Abstract

The development of social media has created a digital space for communication that enables the open negotiation of gender identity and power relations through users’ linguistic practices. Instagram, as one of the global communication platforms, serves as a discursive arena where users express support, resistance or stereotypes regarding gender issues. This study aims to analyse how gender power relations are negotiated through language in the comments section of Najwa Shihab’s Instagram account on posts addressing gender issues and the representation of women in the public sphere. The study employs a qualitative approach with a critical sociolinguistic design. The data consist of Instagram users’ comments on posts from Najwa Shihab’s account that contain debates regarding gender roles, women’s authority, and constructions of masculinity and femininity. Data collection was carried out using digital documentation and non-participant observation, whilst data analysis employed Miles and Huberman’s interactive model, which encompasses data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. Preliminary findings indicate that the negotiation of gender power relations emerges through three dominant patterns: gender legitimisation, gender delegitimisation, and discursive resistance. Language is used to reinforce patriarchal stereotypes by labelling women as emotional, subordinate, or unfit to hold authority. Meanwhile, other comments express resistance by negotiating gender equality and the legitimacy of women in the public sphere. Furthermore, code-mixing, evaluative language and argumentative strategies demonstrate how language functions as an instrument both for reproducing and for resisting gender power relations in digital communication. This study confirms that Instagram comment sections constitute a complex sociolinguistic arena for shaping and negotiating contemporary gender ideologies.