Charo Lacalle

La representación de las mujeres trabajadoras en la ficción televisiva española

La reducida presencia de la mujer en la esfera publica durante los anos sesenta y setenta se reflejaba en el limitado repertorio de roles (madre y esposa principalmente) que le atribuia la ficcion televisiva. El impulso feminista de las decadas sucesivas estimulo las representaciones de los personajes femeninos en el ambito laboral y la reflexion academica sobre la construccion social de la mujer trabajadora. Pero, a pesar de la relevancia del rol profesional en las protagonistas de la ficcion actual, la relevancia de las relaciones sentimentales y de la sexualidad ha revertido en el reducido numero de estudios sobre el tema. Este articulo sintetiza los resultados de un analisis de la mujer trabajadora en la ficcion televisiva espanola, integrado en un proyecto sobre construccion de identidades femeninas. La investigacion propone una metodologia original, que combina metodos cuantitativos y cualitativos (socio-semiotica) para afrontar el estudio de 709 personajes femeninos. La investigacion revela la convivencia de estereotipos ligados a las representaciones tradicionales de los empleos de las mujeres (trabajos relacionados con la atencion al publico 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 caracterizacion negativa del personaje, al tiempo que los problemas de conciliacion de los roles familiares y profesionales se eluden sistematicamente.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.

Young people and television fiction. Reception analysis

Abstract This article presents the findings of an audience research conducted with 86 young Spanish people aged 15 to 29 years. The investigation examines the modes of reception of television fiction, and the impact of the shows on the viewers. Friends’ influence on the choice of program, and the tendency to use social networks to comment on the shows and to talk about themselves, underline the crucial role played by TV fiction and new technologies in socialization processes. While most participants criticized the propensity of television fiction to build extreme stereotypes, they also showed a clear predilection for Spanish programs, and admitted that their characters often offer inspiration to face everyday problems.

Género y edad en la recepción de la ficción televisiva

El articulo resume los principales resultados de una investigacion integrada en un proyecto mas amplio sobre la construccion de la identidad juvenil y de genero en la ficcion televisiva. La metodologia combina el analisis de la recepcion («focus group») con los datos obtenidos mediante un cuestionario anonimo, destinados a contextualizar los resultados del estudio cualitativo. La ficcion televisiva es el macrogenero preferido por los jovenes, sobre todo por las mujeres. En general, los participantes aprecian la mayor proximidad de la ficcion espanola, propiciadora de los diferentes mecanismos de identificacion/proyeccion activados en los procesos de recepcion, y le reconocen un cierto caracter didactico. La investigacion pone de manifiesto el caracter mas intimista de la recepcion femenina, frente al mayor distanciamiento de un espectador masculino mucho mas inconstante, que asimila la ficcion con el puro entretenimiento. La edad influye principalmente en las diferentes modalidades de recepcion, mientras que apenas se constata la incidencia de la clase social ni del origen de los participantes. Los personajes seguros de si mismos, rebeldes y ambivalentes, interesan mas que el resto. Por el contrario, la estructura del relato y una buena parte de los temas del programa visionado se relegan generalmente al olvido, lo que revela el peso de la memoria selectiva en los procesos de interpretacion y sugiere el caracter limitado de los efectos de la ficcion televisiva.This article summarizes the main results of an investigation that is part of a project regarding the construction of youth and gender identity in television fiction. The methodology integrates reception analysis (focus group) with data ob tained through an anonymous questionnaire, designed to contextualize the results of the qualitative research. Television fiction is the favourite macro-genre of young people, especially women. Broadly speaking, participants appreciate the greater proximity of Spanish fiction, which favours the different mechanisms of identification/projection activated during the reception process, and they acknowledge that TV fiction has a certain didactic nature. The research highlights the more intimate nature of female reception compared to the detachment of the male viewer, who watches fiction less frequently and assimilates it as pure entertainment. Age influences the different modes of reception, while the social class and origin of participants hardly have any impact. Confident, rebellious and ambivalent characters are found to be more interesting than the rest. By contrast, the structure of the story and a major part of the topics addressed by the programme are usually consigned to oblivion, highlighting the importance of selective memory in the interpretative process, as well as suggesting the limited nature of the effects of television fiction. RESUMENThis article summarizes the main results of an investigation that is part of a project regarding the construction of youth and gender identity in television fiction. The methodology integrates reception analysis (focus group) with data obtained through an anonymous questionnaire, designed to contextualize the results of the qualitative research. Television fiction is the favourite macro-genre of young people, especially women. Broadly speaking, participants appreciate the greater proximity of Spanish fiction, which favours the different mechanisms of identification/projection activated during the reception process, and they acknowledge that TV fiction has a certain didactic nature. The research highlights the more intimate nature of female reception compared to the detachment of the male viewer, who watches fiction less frequently and assimilates it as pure entertainment. Age influences the different modes of reception, while the social class and origin of participants hardly have any impact. Confident, rebellious and ambivalent characters are found to be more interesting than the rest. By contrast, the structure of the story and a major part of the topics addressed by the programme are usually consigned to oblivion, highlighting the importance of selective memory in the interpretative process, as well as suggesting the limited nature of the effects of television fiction

Television fiction and online communities: an analysis of comments on social networks and forums made by female viewers

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the feeling of communities of female social viewers who watch television fiction and participate in social networks and forums dedicated to the programs. The sample is made up of 7,849 comments from 157 platforms (49 Facebook pages, 71 Twitter accounts, and 37 forums). We describe the characteristics of these communities of fans, which differ significantly from cult fandoms and are based on ICT interweaving between reception and female viewers’ daily lives. The results reveal that these active online poster and lurker communities express themselves through their emotional ties with the television series, self-reflection, and the manifestation of intimacy. Identification with the group is based on the relationship of the storylines with their own lives, with no attempts at constructing a cultural or political identity.

The Representation of Workingwomen in Spanish Television Fiction

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. RESUMEN 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.

Género y edad en la recepción de la ficción televisiva = Genre and Age in the Reception of Television Fiction

El articulo resume los principales resultados de una investigacion integrada en un proyecto mas amplio sobre la construccion de la identidad juvenil y de genero en la ficcion televisiva. La metodologia combina el analisis de la recepcion («focus group») con los datos obtenidos mediante un cuestionario anonimo, destinados a contextualizar los resultados del estudio cualitativo. La ficcion televisiva es el macrogenero preferido por los jovenes, sobre todo por las mujeres. En general, los participantes aprecian la mayor proximidad de la ficcion espanola, propiciadora de los diferentes mecanismos de identificacion/proyeccion activados en los procesos de recepcion, y le reconocen un cierto caracter didactico. La investigacion pone de manifiesto el caracter mas intimista de la recepcion femenina, frente al mayor distanciamiento de un espectador masculino mucho mas inconstante, que asimila la ficcion con el puro entretenimiento. La edad influye principalmente en las diferentes modalidades de recepcion, mientras que apenas se constata la incidencia de la clase social ni del origen de los participantes. Los personajes seguros de si mismos, rebeldes y ambivalentes, interesan mas que el resto. Por el contrario, la estructura del relato y una buena parte de los temas del programa visionado se relegan generalmente al olvido, lo que revela el peso de la memoria selectiva en los procesos de interpretacion y sugiere el caracter limitado de los efectos de la ficcion televisiva.This article summarizes the main results of an investigation that is part of a project regarding the construction of youth and gender identity in television fiction. The methodology integrates reception analysis (focus group) with data ob tained through an anonymous questionnaire, designed to contextualize the results of the qualitative research. Television fiction is the favourite macro-genre of young people, especially women. Broadly speaking, participants appreciate the greater proximity of Spanish fiction, which favours the different mechanisms of identification/projection activated during the reception process, and they acknowledge that TV fiction has a certain didactic nature. The research highlights the more intimate nature of female reception compared to the detachment of the male viewer, who watches fiction less frequently and assimilates it as pure entertainment. Age influences the different modes of reception, while the social class and origin of participants hardly have any impact. Confident, rebellious and ambivalent characters are found to be more interesting than the rest. By contrast, the structure of the story and a major part of the topics addressed by the programme are usually consigned to oblivion, highlighting the importance of selective memory in the interpretative process, as well as suggesting the limited nature of the effects of television fiction. RESUMENThis article summarizes the main results of an investigation that is part of a project regarding the construction of youth and gender identity in television fiction. The methodology integrates reception analysis (focus group) with data obtained through an anonymous questionnaire, designed to contextualize the results of the qualitative research. Television fiction is the favourite macro-genre of young people, especially women. Broadly speaking, participants appreciate the greater proximity of Spanish fiction, which favours the different mechanisms of identification/projection activated during the reception process, and they acknowledge that TV fiction has a certain didactic nature. The research highlights the more intimate nature of female reception compared to the detachment of the male viewer, who watches fiction less frequently and assimilates it as pure entertainment. Age influences the different modes of reception, while the social class and origin of participants hardly have any impact. Confident, rebellious and ambivalent characters are found to be more interesting than the rest. By contrast, the structure of the story and a major part of the topics addressed by the programme are usually consigned to oblivion, highlighting the importance of selective memory in the interpretative process, as well as suggesting the limited nature of the effects of television fiction