Impressions of female body: representations of women and body-image in the brazilian press

Abstract

This paper investigates the representations of women and bodyimage in the brazilian press and it questions the sexual divisions in the society by the images published in the media. It also presents an iconological analysis

of the photographs in six editions of the periodical Folha de São Paulo in 2012, randomly chosen. From a critical theory and analysis it shows that the image of women, which has long been used as merchandise in advertising, is increasingly perceived by print journalism as a decoy for readers. The use of certain female images in the media reinforces stereotypes and builds limits for the understanding of more complex contexts. The hypothesis that the female body-image is used in the press in order to determine positions from recurrent aesthetic patterns can be confirmed. The paper also describes the three main female stereotypes in the media, based on three major pictorial stereotypes in history, being the madona, the seductive and the politician (HIGONNET, 1991). It expresses the confirmation of the superlative visibility of some groups of women and the invisibility of others. The survey reveals that, despite the assumption that they are very imagetically represented in newspapers, women are under-represented, especially in news photographs. It shows that the editorship of the “culture” and “varieties” sections are exceptions, because those special fragments are considered “light”, referring to art, music, dance, celebrities, television, film and cultural activities” (HEDLER, 2011). We conclude that even in a visual culture, visibility is not guaranteed at all. This research enables to deconstructthe concept that it´s normal to use certain images as representations of such a heterogeneous group like women. We expect to expand the horizon of the discussion about the leading roles for women in the society and their relationship to the images produced about them in the newspapers.