The female fashion body: Construction and reproduction of images found in vogue Brazil

The main objective of this project is to analyze the images of the female body found in the fashion magazine Vogue Brazil, more specifically in its December issue of 2011. Following the line of thought of Lipovetsky (1989), who says that fashion is running our society because the principles of seduction and the ephemeral became the organizers of modern collective life. Therefore, fashion would not only be an esthetic device, but the cornerstone of the process of functioning of liberal societies. Among the diversity of sub-themes that fashion studies offer, the bodiliness occupies a prominent place. In a context which both image and appearance are essential, our body is configured as the center of attention, along with clothing. According to Foucault (2010), it is because of the bodiliness that many discursive conformations emerge, producing "truths" that recreate the sense of present body or its individual/collective sensitivity. So, with the ultimate goal, which is the consumption, fashion reconceptualize the body status and invests symbolically in it, aiming to seduce consumers and sell goods or materials, people and things, according to Villaça (2007). As I refer to the fashion body, I focus my analysis on the stereotyped body broadcasted in the media (magazines, editorials, advertising materials), and which is presented in fashion shows as the body of the models. The "physical capital" is the passport for the entry of women in this profession, in which you must follow fashion trends, meeting the demands of a dynamic and rigorous market. How is this capital worked in these advertising materials? What are the values that the images attempt to reproduce? These are the questions that guide this research, which is still in its early stages.