Estereotipos femeninos en notas periodísticas según la esfera pública y privada de los principales diarios de Machala

Abstract

Female stereotypes have been part of our society since antiquity, putting barriers that in one way or another prevent the full development of women's capabilities, this is due to the imposition of such stereotypes within the mind of the person, such as the absurd belief that women should limit themselves to fulfilling domestic functions; that is, they operate better in the private sphere and less in the public sphere, a territory that has been generally attributed to man. This scenario has not been different in our country, province and city. The media, through their informative journalistic notes, contribute greatly to the way in which women are seen or represented within society. In the present work, a content analysis was carried out that allowed us to know how the woman is represented in the informative journalistic notes of the 3 most widely circulated printed media in the city of Machala, for which a total of 4,014 news items were studied. which 1,338 corresponded to Correo newspaper, 1,486 to Opinión newspaper and 1,190 to El Nacional newspaper; In addition, 3 in-depth interviews were conducted with the editorial heads of the analyzed newspapers with the aim of investigating a little more about how the woman is cataloged in the writing of the journalistic notes. Among the results it was found that women have little prominence in the news disseminated through the aforementioned printed media, and that it is effectively taken into account in more sections of the private sphere such as Show, City and Events, although it maintains a considerable percentage within the public sphere. On the other hand, it was noted that among the sections in which it has a minimum participation are international and intercultural news, although in the journalistic notes of the sections of Economy, Medicine and Sports, the participation of women is almost zero. At the same time, it was found that the participation of women stands out in the newsrooms corresponding to the sections of City, News, Cantonal, Events and Shows. In addition, the stereotype for which the woman stands out the most is: Relationships and Social Interactions (for example, when she participates in a march or social event). Secondly, the woman is highlighted as Victim (when she has been attacked physically, verbally or psychologically or, even, when the aggression reaches femicide); and, thirdly, it is taken into account for its Intellectual Capacity (when it shows the achievements of the woman as an entrepreneur in some area, when she obtains some recognition or when she manages to carry out an important position within society). In addition to this, it was found that in the three printed newspapers previously mentioned, the participation of women in the analyzed news is mostly positive, highlighting good actions such as entertaining children, undertaking projects and also their achievements within society, whereas in a smaller percentage it is classified in a negative way, it usually shows as a victim of aggressions or being a victimizer, that is, breaking the law with crimes such as theft, fraud, micro-trafficking of drugs or when involved in some kind of scandal within society.