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Programme: accepted abstracts

Abstract ID: 1269

Part of General Paper Session (Other abstracts in this session)

On the social and linguistic roles of women in big cities: a case study of Brazilian magazine

Authors: Brandão, Renata Rodrigues
Submitted by: Brandão, Renata Rodrigues (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

This work aims to a comparative analysis of cultural and behavioral profiles of urban middle class women between the 1970’s and the 1990’s in big cities like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. This is an essay from the readings of Cosmopolitan magazine, which starts to be published and consumed by middle class women during the 1970’s in Brazilian urban societies. The magazines fit into the contemporary context of the complexity of urban living where speed, movement, comfort and pleasure-seeking actions combine with issues involving the individual. Sennet (1997), analyzing the relationship between the body and the city, argues that the forms of urban spaces derive from bodily experiences specific to each nation, therefore the cities are full of stereotypical and idealized images of the bodies that perform the function of authority in urban space. This function turns out to contribute to segregation and violence involving gender differences in ethnicity, age and class even in multicultural cities like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The relationship between the city, the body, and the language promote greater understanding of urban space and groups who inhabit these spaces. Newsstands and their magazines compose the landscape of the Megalopolis, providing more material for the immense repertoire of images that comprise the urban landscape. A comparative reading of the discourses, images, and advertisement in Cosmopolitan magazine between the 1970’s and 1990’s contribute to the historical construction of profiles of urban middle class women and girls, as recent historiographic research about women's magazines in Brazil has shown. Furthermore, we will depart from a Foucault’s perspective to understand the interconnectedness of feminine discourses, whose practice has a normative, legitimate effect. Some scholars of mass media as Lazarsfeld and Merton (1987) argue that the media is much more a multiplier of certain behaviors that already exist in society than it is transformative. Therefore, we can argue that the media – here represented by Cosmopolitan magazine – is a rich source for analysis and historical construction of cultural and behavioral profile of urban women. The construction of this profile will also include a literature review on the historical production and social sciences on the subject. This paper also seeks to contribute to studies regarding linguistic variation that take into account issues related to gender and class in large cities.

References:

Sennet, R. (1997) Carne e pedra. São Paulo: Record.
Lazarsfeld, P. e Merton, R. (1987) Comunicação de massa, gosto popular e ação social organizada. In. G. Cohn. Comunicação e indústria cultural. São Paulo: TA Queiroz.