Do our Bodies Truly Belong to us?

Female Discourse/Body on Instagram

Abstract

This article addresses hate speech and counter-discourses circulating on Instagram regarding women’s bodies, revealing how women, embedded in power relations, resist through their bodies. In this sense, we analyzed public comments on photos posted by 4 distinct women who are socially recognized as famous, to demonstrate that regardless of age and body types—thin, fat, and well-defined—women suffer social pressure regarding their bodies and an ideal of beauty. Grounded in Foucauldian discourse studies, we aim to understand how discourses, produced by both men and women, unfold in contemporary society under Brazil’s new conditions of production. We reflect on beauty standards, which are mostly unattainable and unrealistic, that prevail today, and especially on the rules of behavior and appearance that are dictated, above all, to women. Consequently, the female body, regardless of its physical form, frequently becomes a target of criticism and attacks in the virtual world, mirroring what occurs in real life. This dynamic highlight and reinforces aspects of the patriarchal system and a society imbued with prejudiced ideas and marked by significant gender inequality.