An Explorative Study of Financial Manipulation of Working Women through Discourse

Abstract

The present study aims to find out the role of language in financial manipulation of working women. Financial manipulation refers to the unfair use of someone’s labor and financial resources. The study population comprises of the working women serving in the provincial government departments located in Dera Ghazi Khan Division in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. The sample size of 150 working women through purposive sampling technique is taken for study, and a self-administered questionnaire was served through convenience sampling technique. Dijik’s (2006) idea of manipulation through discourse as appeared in Discourse and Manipulation is taken as theoretical framework for the study. The data is analyzed quantitatively using SPSS.The study concludes that the working women in South Punjab, Pakistan are manipulated financially through various linguistic tools as they intentionally ignore their own needs in order to save family relations and to avoid sarcastic remarks. The study can be helpful for further research to be carried out in the field of women empowerment in society. It can pave the way for future study in the use of language as a tool of manipulation.