Brazilian telenovelas, elite women and the modern tradition of gender

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to understand how upper middle class and upper-class women make social uses of a fictional television genre (telenovel-as) in order to construct a class femininity captured by world perspectives expressed by informants. These representations are composed of statements regarding every-day practices – their own control of their physical bodies, work and study, family and love relationships – which give meaning to their practices and shape them. We address the incorporation of telenovela narratives in the formation of a media cultural capital that endorses heterosexual elite women’s lifestyle. The analysis has showed that the assimilation of the hegemonic model of bourgeois distinction occurs through the identification with the image of a “modern” woman and the rejection of the “perua”, shorthand for a woman with an exuberant garish but luxurious style.