ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the discursive approach in studying the symbolic representation of gender. It defines what discursive politics and explains the approach. The chapter discusses rationale behind adopting it to study symbolic representation. The chapter clarifies the discursive method of Critical Frame Analysis (CFA). The three policy issues selected to apply CFA to a sampling of policy documents are among the main policy areas in gender equality policies: employment, intimate citizenship, and gender violence. To analyse the function of identity construction inherent in symbolic representation, the selected issue is that of employment-related policies, and its relevant policy documents deal with tax and benefit policies, care and domestic work, and reconciliation of work and family life. The chapter explores the construction of identity' and gender roles through the issue of employment-related policies because in this policy area the main gender differentiation of social roles with men in the public sphere and women in the private sphere is particularly evident.
