EM BUSCA DO CORPO ‘IDEAL’: CONSUMO, PRAZER E CONTROLE ATRAVÉS DA MÍDIA DE MASSA

Abstract

In contemporary societies, the media, especially the mass media, holds an ever increasing power which allows them to shape, maintain or alter knowledge, beliefs, values, social relations and social identities and to influence the course of governments, social institutions and public policies (CHOULIARAKI; FAIRCLOUGH, 1999; FAIRCLOUGH, 2003). The mass media also constitutes an essential resource in the creation and maintenance of the promotional or consumerist discourse (WERNICK, 1991; FEATHERSTONE, 1991; FAIRCLOUGH, 2003) which characterizes contemporary social phenomena. In this essay I discuss, from the perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis and other critical social theories, the media appeals to consumption present in some Brazilian women´s magazines, related to the design and shape of a ‘canonic’ female body.