Corpos perfeitos: o “ideal” de beleza das mulheres construído na contemporaneidade

Abstract

The objective of this research project was to study the hegemonic discourse about the “ideal” beauty model that has been socially constructed for middle-class woman. To this end, 20 women (10 teenagers and 10 young women) were interviewed who live in the city of Salvador and belong to the middle and middle-lower social classes, to identify their dissatisfactions and desires regarding modifications of their physical appearance (body, face and hair) in order to obtain the “ideal model.” The theoretical and methodological basis of this study was founded on critical discourse analysis associated with contemporary feminist theoretical approaches in discussions on gender, body and the media. Data analysis was limited to interviews with the young women and demonstrated, in the information they provided, effects of a dominant beauty ideology related to alternative discursive constructs and to the medical / healthcare field. The discussions also demonstrated the low level of consciousness of the women interviewed with regard to the social imposition of a beauty model that is stimulated by the media to favor the industry of consumption and also demonstrated the existence of a direct relationship between investments in beauty and the search for or maintenance of heterosexual relationships.