Discourse, body cult and identity: Representations of the female body in Brazilian magazines

ABSTRACT

In this article, we investigate representations of the female body in Brazilian magazines for women in order to interpret and explain how new models of body and identity are connected to the phenomenon of commodification of discourse, and mainly to consumer culture. Five magazine covers were analyzed based on a systemic-functional perspective on language (HALLIDAY, 2004). Our analysis demonstrates that the visual focus on the cover girls' physical attributes, combined with the cover lines naming the attributes and/or evaluating advertised products, construct the link between the discourse of body cult and the discourse of commodification. The acquisition of products and services, therefore, becomes an inescapable prerogative in the lives of Brazilian women who individually seek the promise of health, beauty and success, according to their purchasing power.

Keywords:
Critical discourse analysis; Women's magazine; Cult of the body; Commodification; Late modernity