Quando bem-estar nem sempre é estar bem: a revista “Marie Claire” e as estratégias discursivas (2008 a 2011)

Resumo (EN)

The aim of this thesis is to study the section “Bem Viver” of the magazine Marie Claire (2008-2011) in order to discuss feminine social control in the contemporary world in the light of Foucault‟s theory (2011). We analise the discourse of well being, which permeates this section, in order to find out whether the variations that this term has suffered were due, mainly, to the changes in the trends of consumerism in the contemporary world, considering that it is one of the tools that facilitates both, explicitly and implicitly, feminine social control. In the first chapter, in the light of Foucault‟ theory, we reflect on his use of both the term torture and physical pain, as a form of social control, as well as the different forms that they have assumed, within the same perspective, in the contemporary world. Still from a Foucaldian perspective (2011), we discuss society‟s diverse disciplinarian actions that submit women to established patterns of behavior and, consequently, to social control through the actions inflicted upon their bodies. In the third chapter we compare the notion of well being, articulated in the magazine, with the World Health Organization‟s definition of the term and its use among Brazilian feminine readership. Throughout this thesis, Foucault‟s panopticon (2011) functioned as a theoretical reference in order to understand feminine self-control in contemporary society and media, particularly in Marie Claire, in which the discourse of well being functions as a device of power over women.