Breathe
By Thelma Elena Pérez Álvarez
The recent electoral process allowed us to notice fractions of the complexity in the relationship between political communication and the body, by examining the intersection between gender and phenotype (or visible physical characteristics) in the photographic representation printed in propaganda (banners and digital content) of the candidates for the Presidency: Xóchitl Gálvez and Claudia Sheinbaum; Head of Government of CDMX: Clara Brugada and Mayor of Tlalpan: Alfa González, Mariana Martí and Gabriela Osorio.
The construction of political communication strategies involves linking actors in social structures, such as governments, political parties and marketing and communication industries. The photographs of the contenders are visual discourses on the public image they choose to project to the electorate, which are designed to transmit ideologies and values agreed with the corresponding political parties and campaign teams.
In this regard, the six candidates promoted cultural pluralism, gender perspective and feminism. Approaches that seek to eradicate inequalities motivated by social constructs, such as those associated with gender and phenotype, which underlie discriminatory expressions related to sexism, racism and its particular link with classism that favor the normalization of exclusionary practices with diverse effects on people's lives.
For example, the National Survey on Discrimination (ENADIS, 2022) (INEGI, 2023) shows that 23.7% of people surveyed experienced discrimination based on skin tone, social class, gender or for being an indigenous or Afro-descendant person. Also, the Report on Social Mobility in Mexico (CEEY, 2019) mentions that the Mexican population with darker skin tones experiences less upward mobility than those who report lighter skin tones.
With this in mind, the study explored in a primarily descriptive manner one photograph per candidate to detect possible signs of sexism and racism in the representation of her physical appearance. We analyzed phenotypical characteristics, such as skin and teeth tone, shape, hair color and nose shape. We considered theoretical and methodological references such as the critical discourse study (Van Dijk, 2016), the chromatic scale of the PERLA project (Telles, 2014) and contemporary expressions of sexism and racism (Pérez Álvarez, 2023).
The results show that, in all the photographs and with different intensities, there was skin lightening (oriented towards shades H to J of the PEARL chromatic scale) and tooth whitening.
PERLA chromatic scale (Telles, 2014)
In terms of hair shape and color, Gabriela Osorio was the only candidate with curly, dark brown hair. Clara Brugada, on the other hand, had some curly or wavy hair. Likewise, Clara Brugada, Xóchitl Gálvez, Alfa González, Mariana Martí and Claudia Sheinbaum, appeared with straight hair dyed in gradients of brown with highlights or highlights in lighter tones.
Regarding the shape of the nose, the six photographs showed a thinning of this organ, either by makeup effects, lighting and some photo editing program. Additionally, in all cases, and with different impetus, we found fading or absence of wrinkles and expression lines.
The study revealed that the representation strategies used imprint a contemporary expression of sexism and racism previously detected in the analysis of television advertising representation, defined as phenotypocracy, which accounts for the intersection between sexism and automatic racism, the sexual contract of neoliberalism and the construction of ambiguous messages about feminism disseminated in cultural products.
Phenotypocracy is framed in the reproduction of a hegemonic beauty model offered to women as "empowerment" and "free choice" in order to incite their consumption in the fashion, beauty and personal hygiene industries. It exemplifies colorist racism, which forges hierarchical logics that go beyond skin tone and expand to other phenotypical characteristics such as those detected here: bleached teeth, straight hair, brown and lighter effects, thinned noses and youthful appearance.
Part of the contradiction (and complexity) of the case lies in the promotion of a supposed advance for Mexican women (that six women can be elected to positions of substantial political and public power) in which the physical appearance of these candidates is intervened to adjust it to this dominant, normative model of beauty and, with it, legitimize (consciously or not) a structural vision that contributes to discrimination and exclusion by gender, phenotype and class. Although... cultural pluralism, gender perspective and feminism.
Therefore, what does it imply to define the image of a candidate? Why adjust her to the dominant model of beauty? Is there an awareness of the pedagogy implicit in the candidacy and the position to which she aspires to be elected? Let us expand this information and generate more questions.
*Thelma Elena Pérez Álvarez teaches digital communication, advertising and marketing at universities in Spain and Mexico. She actively works for the Mexican State to guarantee the human right to media and information literacy.
References
Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía. (2023). National Survey on Discrimination 2022.
Pérez Álvarez, T.E. (2023). An approach to phenotypocracy in television advertising in Mexico. Contratexto (40), 189-216.
Telles, E. (2014). Pigmentocracies. Ethnicity, race and color in Latin America. Chapel Hill, NC.
Van Dijk, T.A. (2016). Critical discourse analysis. Austral Journal of Social Sciences, (30), 203-222.
VelesGrajales, R. (2019). Movilidad Social en México. Centro de Estudios Espinosa Yglesias.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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