The representation of workingwomen in Spanish television fiction

Abstract

During the sixties and seventies the limited presence of women in the public sphere was reflected in the restricted repertoire of roles played by female characters in television fiction (mainly those of mothers and wives). The strengthening of the feminist movement in the following decades increased and diversified the portrayals of women in the workplace, and further encouraged academic research on the social construction of working women. Despite the relevance of female professionals in current TV shows, the importance of romantic relationships and sexuality has led to a decreasing number of studies on the subject. This article summarizes the results of a study on working women in Spanish TV fiction, part of a larger project on the construction of female identities. The research uses an original methodology that combines quantitative techniques and qualitative methods (socio-semiotics) to analyse the sample of 709 female characters. The results show a coexistence of the traditional stereotypes of working women in customer service and care-giving positions with those of highly skilled female professionals. However, the empowerment of women in positions of responsibility is often associated with a negative portrayal of the character, while the problems of reconciling family and work are systematically avoided. La reducida presencia de la mujer en la esfera pública durante los años sesenta y setenta se reflejaba en el limitado repertorio de roles (madre y esposa principalmente) que le atribuía la ficción televisiva. El impulso feminista de las décadas sucesivas estimuló las representaciones de los personajes femeninos en el ámbito laboral y la reflexión académica sobre la construcción social de la mujer trabajadora. Pero, a pesar de la relevancia del rol profesional en las protagonistas de la ficción actual, la relevancia de las relaciones sentimentales y de la sexualidad ha revertido en el reducido número de estudios sobre el tema. Este artículo sintetiza los resultados de un análisis de la mujer trabajadora en la ficción televisiva española, integrado en un proyecto sobre construcción de identidades femeninas. La investigación propone una metodología original, que combina métodos cuantitativos y cualitativos (socio-semiótica) para afrontar el estudio de 709 personajes femeninos. La investigación revela la convivencia de estereotipos ligados a las representaciones tradicionales de los empleos de las mujeres (trabajos relacionados con la atención al público y el cuidado de las personas) con otras profesiones altamente cualificadas. Sin embargo, el empoderamiento de las mujeres con cargos de responsabilidad se asocia frecuentemente con una caracterización negativa del personaje, al tiempo que los problemas de conciliación de los roles familiares y profesionales se eluden sistemáticamente.

Las mujeres en las series de ficción: el punto de vista de las mujeres

“…La cuestión es si el modelo propuesto contribuye a perpetuar o reproducir los estereotipos dominantes (Mateos, 2007), o es capaz de hacerse eco de los cambios que experimenta progresivamente la sociedad (Núñez, 2005). Interesa reflexionar bajo qué modelos se presentan los personajes femeninos y si realmente la ficción ha sabido captar la transformación del papel de la mujer en la sociedad ya que, si bien el cambio discursivo en la época contemporánea es insoslayable, éste tiene sus matices y así se traduce en las series de actualidad (Lacalle y Gómez, 2016;Bernárdez, 2017;Coronado y Galán, 2017;Cambra-Badii et al, 2019). Recordar además, que existen estudios que demuestran como un producto televisivo consigue tener éxito a base de rupturas y disidencias con los modelos dominantes y estereotipos de género (Padilla y Sosa, 2018).…”

Mujeres en las series políticas contemporáneas. ¿Una geografía común de su presencia en la esfera pública?

“…La caracterización de los personajes femeninos tiende a ser más negativa que positiva, una atribución que habitualmente se incrementa a medida que la esfera de poder del personaje aumenta Gómez, 2016).…”

Ch Lacalle, T Hidalgo-MEvolution of family representations in Spanish fiction television

“…The representation of working family women in fiction TV tends to use the representative antithesis within the same story, combining domestic feminine roles with professional roles or roles released from the domestic social burden. However, fiction TV rarely deals with the problems of family conciliation (Lacalle and Gómez, 2016;Ortega and Simelio, 2012). The Spanish series Gran Reserva, for example, shows the professional activities of a female character, Lucia, who begins to manage the family winery (a traditionally male business), after the death of her father.…”

“…Fenómenos, despite blurring the nuclear family model and being a professional, cosmopolitan and innovative fiction series, gives women secondary or little successful professional roles, frequently ridiculing their professionalism, while men assume the role of successful and adventurous subjects. In this type of representations even the recognition of leadership/empowerment of female entrepreneurs and in chief positions involves the attribution of traditionally masculine traits (Lacalle and Gómez, 2016).…”

“…However, it should be noted that the boom of the stories set in the past complicates the quantitative empirical study of the representation of the family in fiction and, specifically the representation of women, given that the new hyper-realistic trends have no place in such periods of time. In any case, it is necessary to take into account that the construction of the representation of the past is carried out in the present, so we cannot speak of historical neutrality (Ortega andSimelo, 2012:1013), as there is certain bias in the narrative representation as well as in the roles assigned to the different family members (Lacalle and Gómez, 2016). Thus, fiction TV shows such as the successful Águila roja and others like Hispania, Imperium, Toledo cruce de destinos, Tierra de lobos, El secreto de Puente Viejo, Bandolera and Gran Hotel, evoke family configurations that are different from the family representations offered in fiction programmes set in the present time, except in the case of Isabel whose female protagonist, the Catholic Queen, has power in the family and social realms, derived from her aristocratic position, although assuming domestic roles in her domestic privacy.…”