Leer, interpretar y (re)construir: percepciones de jóvenes sobre las mujeres en la política

Reading, Interpreting and (Re)constructing: Youth Perceptions about Women in Politics

Rosa Cabecinhas

Carla Cerqueira

Anabela Santos

Resumen:

El presente artículo analiza las prácticas de recepción de contenidos difundidos por las newsmagazines portuguesas Sábado y Visão, estudiando, en concreto, el modo en el que los públicos jóvenes comprenden, interpretan y se sitúan en relación a las representaciones de mujeres que ejercen cargos políticos.

El análisis temático conducido, el cual partió del material resultante de la realización de once grupos focales, muestra que las/los participantes tendieron a favorecer lecturas congruentes con la ideología tradicional de género. Independientemente de los momentos puntuales de negociación, controversia y resistencia, los resultados indican que la mayoría de las/los participantes no problematizó, de forma crítica, el papel de los medios de comunicación en la (re)construcción genderizada de la realidad social, apoyando la reificación de las tríades masculino-político-público y femenino-personal-privado. Más allá de eso, las/los participantes raramente cuestionaron los factores económicos, socioculturales y políticos que influyen en la producción informativa.

Conformado por una perspectiva feminista, este estudio destaca la necesidad de que se potencie la capacidad de agencia de los públicos de cara a las asunciones de género diseminadas por los medios informativos y se reflexione sobre los eventuales impactos de las representaciones mediáticas a nivel de la (re)configuración del espacio público.

Palabras clave:

estudios de recepción, mujeres y política, representaciones sociales, estudios feministas de los medios

Abstract:

This paper examines reception practices of contents spread through the Portuguese newsmagazines “Sábado” and “Visão”, exploring, in particular, the way young audiences understand, interpret and position themselves in relation to representations of women who hold political posts.

The thematic analysis conducted on the data resulting from a sequence of focus group discussions shows that participants tended to prefer readings that were aligned with traditional gender ideology. Despite occasional moments of negotiation, contestation and resistance, the results indicate that most participants did not critically problematize the role of the media in the gendered (re)construction of social reality, supporting instead the reification of the male-political-public and female-personal-private triads. Moreover, participants rarely questioned the economic, socio-cultural and political factors that exert influence on the news production.

Informed by a feminist perspective, this study therefore highlights the need to empower the audiences in relation to the gender assumptions that the news media have spread and to reflect about the impact of the media representations on the (re)configuration of the public sphere.

Keywords:

reception studies, women and politics, social representations, feminist media studies

Cómo citar:

Cabecinhas, R.; Cerqueira, C. & Santos, A.  (2014) Leer, interpretar y (re)construir: percepciones de jóvenes sobre las mujeres en la política, en Communication Papers, 3, 5, 74-90.

Recuperado de:

http://ojs.udg.edu/index.php/CommunicationPapers/article/view/168/AnabelSantos_RosaCabecinhas_CarlaCerqueira

La representación de los políticos en revistas femeninas de alta gama: un estudio de caso

The political representation in high-end women magazines: a case study

Salomé Berrocal Gonzalo

Raquel Quevedo Redondo

Resumen:

La creciente espectacularización que ha experimentado la política en la evolución de su relación con medios y ciudadanos se ha convertido en una de las principales fuentes de contenido para los mass media que persiguen ofrecer al público productos informativos mezclados con entretenimiento.

Sobre esta preponderante tendencia conocida como “infotainment”, el grueso de investigaciones publicadas aparece ligado al avance de la televisión, lo que ha generado una falsa impresión de vacío sobre la existencia de “noticias blandas” protagonizadas por políticos (y más concretamente por políticas), en medios impresos.

Ante la falta de antecedentes científicos que expliquen la presencia del fenómeno más allá del mercado televisivo, este estudio analiza la representación de los líderes y lideresas en las revistas femeninas de alta gama (RFAG) ‘Glamour’, ‘Telva’, ‘Woman’, ‘Elle’ y ‘Vogue’, a través de las entrevistas publicadas en el año 2011 con motivo de las elecciones a Cortes Generales en España.

Desde una perspectiva comparativa y de género, el objetivo del análisis radica en evidenciar la proliferación de un particular formato: el de la “soft interview” o “entrevista blanda”, integrado por cuestionarios que alternan las preguntas personales con preguntas profesionales, con un mayor protagonismo de las primeras cuando el entrevistado es mujer.

Palabras Clave:

Infoentretenimiento; revistas femeninas; comunicación política; framing

Abstract:

The increasing speculation that the policy has experienced in the evolution of its relationship with media and citizens has become a major source of content for mass media that intends to provide informative products blended with entertainment.

About this dominant trend known as «infotainment», most research is linked to the advancement of television, which has generated a false feeling of emptiness on the existence of “soft news” about politicians (and specifically about women politicians), in printed media.

Given the lack of scientific background to explain the presence of the phenomenon beyond the television market, this study analyzes the representation of male and female leaders in highend women’s magazines (RFAG) ‘Glamour’, ‘Telva’, ‘Woman’ , ‘Elle’ and ‘Vogue’, through interviews published in 2011 on the occasion of the elections to the Spanish Parliament.

From a comparative and gender perspective, the objective of this analysis seeks to highlight the proliferation of a particular format: the “soft interview”, composed of personal questions alternated with professional questions, with a greater role of the first option when the gender of the interviewee is female.

Keywords:

Infotainment; women magazines; political communication; framing

Cómo citar:

Berrocal-Gonzalo, S. & Quevedo-Redondo, R.  (2014) La representación de los políticos en revistas femeninas de alta gama: un estudio de caso, en Communication Papers, 3, 5, 61-73.

Recuperado de:

http://ojs.udg.edu/index.php/CommunicationPapers/article/view/163/Salom%C3%A9BerrocalGonzalo_RaquelQuevedoRedondo

Italian female ministers: a test for the celebrity politics?

Donatella Campus

Elena Giammaria

Abstract:

The so-called celebrity politics is a well-known general and global phenomenon, common to most Western democracies. The celebrity politicians have become leading actors in tabloids, gossip magazines and entertainment TV programs. The paper aims at investigating the impact of those developments on women politicians and attempts at evaluating if they advantaged or disadvantaged by the increasing celebritization of politics. By referring to the case of the Italian female ministers and through a content analysis of the most read Italian gossip magazine, the paper tests the hypotheses that female ministers receive more coverage than their male colleagues and that this coverage gives more space to trivial details, like appearance and attire. The paper argues that the celebrity politics may give women more visibility, but offers also some occasions for activating the most common and unfair gender stereotypes. Therefore, in the case of male politicians, the coverage of gossip magazines can simply “humanize” their image by showing them in more private settings and allowing them to express their feelings and emotions. In the case of women, the same kind of coverage could reinforce an already biased treatment due to the fact that they usually receive more media coverage mentioning family life, dress and appearance than male politicians.

Keywords:

female politicians; gender stereotypes; celebrity politics; gossip magazines; Italian politics.

Cómo citar:

Campus, D. & Giammaria, E. (2014) Italian female ministers: a test for the celebrity politics?, en Communication Papers, 3, 5, 49-60.

Recuperado de:

http://ojs.udg.edu/index.php/CommunicationPapers/article/view/162/DonatellaCampus_ElenaGIAMMARIA

Women municipal politicians in election news

Angelia Wagner

Abstract:

The news media’s fascination with which party is ahead in the polls — otherwise known as the horse race — has raised questions about how well informed voters are about their choices on the ballot box. A preoccupation with campaign strategies, gaffes, and photo-ops leaves journalists with less time to report on issues and platforms. Some scholars argue women are particularly handicapped by horse-race coverage because it can lead to negative evaluations of their electoral viability and because the masculine language used in this type of coverage could depict them as inappropriately aggressive and therefore transgressing traditional gender norms. But this study on newspaper coverage of municipal elections in one Canadian province reveals that journalists treat regular council contests more as a marathon than a horse race. The nature of municipal election coverage suggests journalists treat candidates as a mass group of runners, doing little to distinguish them from each other and rarely speculating on their electoral chances. The real problem for women and men council candidates is not media bias but media invisibility—getting the coverage they need to build a public profile so voters will support them.

Keywords:

Women politicians; horse-race journalism; municipal politics; Canada

Cómo citar:

Wagner, A.  (2014) Women municipal politicians in election news, en Communication Papers, 3, 5, 35-48.

Recuperado de:

http://ojs.udg.edu/index.php/CommunicationPapers/article/view/160/AngeliaWagner

Autopercepciones de las inmigradas sobre su hetero-representación en prensa escrita. Caso gallego y catalán

Migrant women self-perceptions about her journalistic hetero-representation. Galician and Catalan case

Yolanda Martinez Suarez

Saleta De Salvador Agra

Resumen:

Este texto constituye una aproximación a la inmigración femenina desde los estudios de recepción, es decir, nos centramos en cómo los medios hetero-representan a este colectivo doblemente marcado. La perspectiva es la de los discursos generados en torno a la heterodesignación a la que las inmigradas están sometidas por la prensa escrita generalista, desde sus propios discursos. Analizar las opiniones de las protagonistas de la migración en la prensa española es el objetivo que guía este texto, que busca recoger las interpretaciones de este fenómeno a partir de las propias voces de las migradas. La metodología consiste en la realización de 225 encuestas a una muestra de mujeres migrantes residentes en las comunidades de Galicia y Cataluña. El fin de la elección geográfica es establecer una comparativa entre dos polos opuestos, en cuanto a tradición migratoria se refiere, para poder extraer los puntos en común de la percepción de las protagonista sobre el imaginario mediático que las tiene por objeto. Los principales resultados apuntan a una conciencia respecto a una ausencia de canal que transmita sus voces. Así como a un discurso crítico reflexivo respecto de las noticias construidas en torno a su realidad migratoria. Su consumo mediático les permite establecer una crítica pormenorizada a las estrategias mediáticas más usuales: frecuencia temática, representación fotográfica, terminología, etc.

Palabras Clave:

Inmigración, género, autodesignación, representaciones, prensa escrita, recepción.

Abstract:

This text is an approach to female immigration from reception studies. We focus on how the media represents this doubly labeled group. The perspective is about listening her own speeches about how general media show them. Analyze the migration protagonist’s opinions in the Spanish press is the overarching objective of this text, which aims to collect this phenomenon’s interpretations from migrants’ own voices. The methodology consists of conducting 225 surveys to a sample of migrant women who live in Galicia and Catalonia.

The geographical choice try to establish a comparison between two polar opposites in migration tradition, in order to extract the commonalities of perception of the protagonists about the inmigrant imagery of the media. The main results point to an awareness of a lack of channels broadcasting their own voices.

We found that there is a critical reflective discourse on newsbuilt around their reality. Their media consumption allows them to criticize the most common media strategies: the thematic frecuency, the photographic representation, the terminology, etc.

Keywords:

Inmigration, gender, self-presentation, press, reception.

Cómo citar:

Martínez-Suárez, Y. & De Salvador-Agra, S. (2014) Autopercepciones de las inmigradas sobre su hetero-representación en prensa escrita. Caso Gallego y Catalán, en Communication Papers, 3, 5, 24-34.

Recuperado de:

http://ojs.udg.edu/index.php/CommunicationPapers/article/view/158

Visibility and invisibility: exploring the representation of women and men in Irish politics.

The example of the 2011 broadcasts.

María Martínez Lirola

Abstract:

Although the socio-economic situation of Ireland has improved in the last decade, the situation of women continues to be unequal to men and there are certain limitations in their rights. Despite well-known exceptions, women have tended to be underrepresented in Irish politics. However, in the last elections some of them decided to run for the Republic’s presidency as well as to become the first female Irish Prime Minister. In this sense, this research paper will try to contribute to the representation of women in the 2011 campaigns. Both general and presidential referendums will be under analysis. Our sample will consist of the most representative TV broadcasts of the main political parties (i.e. Fianna Feil, Fine Gael, Sinn Fein, among others).

As regards methodology, we will aim for the combination of critical discourse analysis  and multimodal critical discourse analysis in order to observe the main visual representation of politicians as social actors (van Leeuwen, 2008), and consider the possible similarities and differences between women and men politicians. The study aims to observe if there are as many women as men politicians in the broadcasts of the 2011 election campaigns in Ireland and to pay attention to the way women and men politicians are portrayed in the broadcasts under analysis. The analysis will show that politicians are portrayed as elite individuals, that there is a general positive representation of the candidates and that women are underrepresented in Irish politics, which points out that it continues being a challenge for democracy the participation of women in politics since their representation or role is not equal compared to men.

Keywords:

Multimodality, broadcasts, critical discourse analysis, Celtic Tiger period.

Resumen:

Aunque la situación socio-económica de Irlanda ha mejorado enla última década, la realidad de las mujeres continúa siendo distinta a la de los hombres y hay ciertas limitaciones en sus derechos. Las mujeres siguen estando infrarrepresentadas en la política irlandesa con algunas excepciones. Sin embargo, en las últimas elecciones, algunas se presentaron como candidatas a la presidencia y también a optar a ser primera ministra. En este sentido, este artículo es una contribución al estudio de la representación de las mujeres en la campaña política del año 2011.

Tanto las elecciones generales como las presidenciales son objeto de análisis. Nuestro corpus consiste en los videos políticos usados por los principales partidos políticos (Fianna Feil, Fine Gael, Sinn Fein, entre otros).

Con respecto a la metodología, se combinará el análisis crítico del discurso y el análisis crítico del discurso multimodal con el fin de observar la representación de los/as políticos/as como actores sociales (van Leeuwen, 2008) y considerar las posibles diferencias entre las mujeres y los hombres políticas/os. El estudio tratará de observar si hay tantas mujeres como hombres en los videos de las elecciones de 2011 en Irlanda y prestará atención al modo que se las representa el los videos objeto de estudio. El análisis mostrará que los/as políticos/as son representados/as como élite, que predomina la representación positiva y que las mujeres aparecen infrarrepresentadas en la política irlandesa, hecho que pone de manifiesto que la participación de las mismas en la política sigue siendo un reto para la democracia debido a que su representación o papel no es igual al de los hombres.

Palabras clave:

Multimodalidad, videos políticos, análisis crítico del discurso, Celtic Tiger.

Cómo citar:

Martínez-Lirola, M. (2014) Visibility and invisibility: Exploring the representation of women and men in Irish politics. The example of the 2011 broadcasts , en Communication Papers, 3, 5, 11-23.

Recuperado de:

http://ojs.udg.edu/index.php/CommunicationPapers/article/view/157/MartinezLirola