Urgency of new categories for the image of women: the honest, the lost, the desired and the marginal in the Curitiba press in the 1980s

Abstract

The article addresses the articulation of the female universe through an imagery discourse, full of signs and ideologies, in a context of political, social and cultural openness that allowed the presence of public women in various ways. Depending on the historical moment, the specific context and the social and cultural conditions, different categories related to women emerge. These categories should not be seen as individualized historical subjects, but rather as historical moments defined by circulating images, impressions and imaginaries. Barthes' semiological analysis (1984) was used to fragment the images of women. This imagery analysis is not limited to the dichotomy of the female environment in public and private, as the images are conveyed to the public with the intention of demarcating specific social positions for the female. Using Barthes's (1984) categories of "studium" and "punctum", the article reveals that the photos present details that can draw attention, cover up or enhance certain parts of the female body. The newspapers analyzed in the study show that most of the women portrayed can be classified in the described categories, the desired ones being often used as a sales tool to attract the attention of the reading public, which is supposed to be predominantly male. On the other hand, marginalized women have little or no space in representations. The text highlights that each image requires a deeper analysis, revealing a plurality of functions and social convictions in relation to the feminine in society. Therefore, the study emphasizes the importance of understanding and problematizing women's visual representations for a more comprehensive and critical view of the female condition in contemporary society.