The Impact of Telenovelas on the Conception of the Ideal Body in Bogotá

ICS 2 Assessment Task: Research ProjectThe Impact of Telenovelas on the Conception of the Ideal Body in Bogotá

Daisy D'Souza

ABSTRACTThe research paper seeks to investigate the ways in which telenovelas, through their representations of women, help in the construction and reconstruction of the ideal body that therefore places pressure on the women of Bogotá to conform to certain standards of beauty.

ICS 2 Assessment Task: Research ProjectNovember 1, 2015

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION 3

RESEARCH AREA 4

METHODOLOGY OVERVIEW 8

THE FRAMING OF BEAUTY AND BODIES IN ‘SIN TETAS NO HAY PARAÍSO’ AND ‘YO

SOY BETTY LA FEA’ 12

1. THE BODY AS A MEANS OF SOCIAL ASCENSION 12

2. BEAUTY AS AN (UN)ATTAINABLE GOAL 15

SURVEY RESULTS 18

1. BODY SATISFACTION IN BOGOTÁ 18

CONCLUSION 20

REFERENCES 22

APPENDIX 26

1. SURVEY QUESTIONS AND RESULTS 26

2 Daisy D’Souza - 11225012


Introduction

In societies around the world gender, power and the media interact to create and affect

social and cultural norms. This has been found to pertain particular importance to the

social treatment of women. Cross cultural research indicates that ‘there is a

connection between cultural representations of woman/woman's body and not only

how political power is distributed among the sexes but also how gender identity is

reinforced and perpetuated in that culture’ (Desjardins 1989, p. 67). An integral part

of human development is learning, implicitly and explicitly, how to read, interpret,

and assign meaning to our own and others’ bodies based on culturally informed codes.

The permeation of these codes often involves members of a society constructing ‘their

bodies in ways that comply with accepted views of masculinity and femininity’

(Lorber & Martin 2005, p. 228). The collective body image of a community or society

can provide insights into the cultural and social dimensions of a group, while the

female body remains a site for highlighting ideas around gender and the perception of

women within a society. Consequently, the idealized body, in different countries, can

be interpreted as a social construction for which ‘women are both the products and the

producers of social meanings’ (Frost 2005, p. 66).

While struggles with body image affect both genders, the historical association of the

woman with the body ‘has resulted in her being judged by and valued for her

appearance more than man’ (King 2004, p. 36). Ideal body representations, which are

‘transmitted through various socialisation agents such as the mass media’, work as a



mediating structure between individuals of a society and their perspective on their

body by transmitting the idea that only certain physical stereotypes are valued.

Taking into consideration that ‘ideal standards of body size are culturally specific’

and ‘culture influences the types of media that are created and the types of media to

which people are exposed’, this research paper seeks to investigate the impact of an

aspect of media, specifically telenovelas or soap operas, on the ideal body

representation in Bogotá, Colombia. In Latin American, telenovelas are considered a

cultural cornerstone, with an enormous social, cultural and economic impact on the

continent and previous research has indicated that audiences tend to be primarily

female. Widely consumed throughout Colombia, this form of cultural production

‘masks a more complex and untidy interpretation of everyday reality that engages

viewers in a process of self-identification with tropes representing the more complex

realities of Latin American societies’ (Benavidez 2008, p. 44). This paper shall

attempt to uncover how Bogotánan women understand the ideal body and in what

ways this is perpetuated through telenovelas.

Research Area

While an abundance of literature exists on the concepts of gender, body image,

femininity and the media, it is predominantly with a western focus. The literature that

does concentrate on either a Latin American or Colombian setting tends to either

investigate clinical health repercussions, for example the increase in eating disorders,

or provides a broader analysis of the permeation of western media and its impacts.



Present understandings of female body image in Latin American or Columbia are

therefore informed by a limited set of research studies.

Literature affirms that ‘western’ thinness is considered to be an element of the ideal

body in Colombia, however Ochoa (2011) argues that some ‘Colombian’ standards of

beauty remain and thus a woman is also expected to have curves, a voluptuous bust

for example, and to resemble the role of Eve, the temptress. As a result, the ideal body

in Medellin is seen as being one that ‘requires dieting and constant exercise, and also

forces women to get surgical enhancements’ due to the vestigial preference for

voluptuousness coupled with the permeation of ideal western or Eurocentric body

representations (Ochoa 2011, p. 353). Ochoa’s focus remains singularly on Medellin

and thus does not necessarily reflect the pressures felt by females in Bogotá nor does

it investigate the specific effects of the Colombian media.

Existing literature surrounding the ideal body and standards of beauty in Colombia

emphasises the relationship between Colombia’s sordid history and the complexities

of the female body. In a country still marred by violence and poverty, the female body

can act as an ‘imaginary vehicle of ascent for those blocked from more moral routes

of social mobility’ (Ochoa 2011, p. 354). Forero-Peña (2015) underscores the notion

that certain body images act as status symbols and as a means of social ascension,

which helps in the development of a contextual understanding of the body image

pressures at play in Colombia. By highlighting the potential impacts of telenovelas on

Colombian women, with particular reference to Sin Tetas No Hay Paraíso (Without

Tits There Is No Paradise) and Yo Betty La Fea (Ugly Betty), the author illustrates

how these narratives promote ‘mainstream, hegemonic views on feminine beauty’



(Forero-Peña 2015, p. 108), suggesting that a woman’s value stems from her

appearance. The propagation of this idea, that a woman’s appearance is an indicator

of her worth, fosters the relationship between media and the dominant class, and the

link between the ideal body and elevation of status. Goodman (2002), focus on the

way that Latina and Anglo women have to negotiate excessively thin, female images

in the media. They describe how “media representations influence individuals'

relationships to the dominant class, cultivating ideas, norms, and values to form a

common worldview serving the dominant class' needs.” (Goodman 2002, p. 713)

The media serves as the main source of information about social processes and

therefore acts as a guide for many women, regardless of their cultural background

Thus, ‘thin images, then, supposedly define women as the dominant class' subjects by

offering thinness as the ideal state of women's bodies…women who attain excessive

thinness gain social and economic rewards’ (Goodman 2002, p. 713). Consequently,

one can recognise this compelling connection between attaining the ideal body and

anticipated social and economic ascension, and furthermore the overemphasis on the

‘Anglo/western’ idealized body image. Research shows that ‘body dissatisfaction is

highly influenced by social pressures, due to the widespread growth of the western

standards of beauty’ (Moreno et al. 2007, p. 21)1

Telenovelas, as an important element of the Latin-American media, participate in the

construction of what constitutes a beautiful female body as well as offering ‘a space

for mediation on the origins of female aesthetic categorizations’ and the ways in

which females see themselves as “women”’ (Rivero 2003, p. 66). Rivero (2003)

1Translation: La insatisfacción corporal está altamente influenciada por presiones sociales, debido a la masificación de los estándares de belleza en occidente,



argues that telenovelas, in particular Yo Soy Betty La Fea concentrate on the on ‘the

racialized “beautiful”/“ugly” rubric in Latin America’ informed by ideologies of class

and status. The article highlights the notion that the beautiful female body in Latin

America is one of ‘whiteness and sexual constraint’ and the dichotomy between

beautiful and ugly ‘is broadly informed by intertwined Eurocentric, patriarchal, racial,

Western/Christianised ideologies of primitivism/civilization and class’ (Rivero 2003,

p. 68). This hints at the lingering impact of the European-derived influence in the

Latin American continent and the effect of the colonial notion that understood

whiteness or the European body as superior.

This conception of the female aesthetic in turn informs other cultural ‘beauty’

practices such as cosmetic surgery and dieting. Moreno (2007), in a study of corporal

dissatisfaction in pre-teenage and teenage girls in Popayan, Colombia, stresses the

increase in access to surgical enhancement and thus an example of the further

pressure placed on females. This is corroborated by Carrion, Weinberger-Litman,

Rabin & Fogel (2011) who investigate patterns of association between disordered

eating variables and cosmetic surgery acceptance in both the US and Colombia. Their

study shows that ‘the Colombia participants reported a greater acceptance of cosmetic

surgery overall’ (Carrion et al. 2011, p. 288). The authors cite the prevalence of

beauty pageants, in particular contestants who resort to cosmetic surgery in order to

achieve the Colombian beauty ideal, and the lower cost of surgery as reasons for its

popularity in the country.

The consensus in the literature reviewed is that there are many complex elements at

play in defining the idealized body in Colombia. Eurocentric and western body



ideals, coupled with the preference for some voluptuous features, and the availability

of cosmetic surgery procedures, create what is essentially an unachievable standard of

beauty. However, there exists a lack of investigation into the particular impact of

telenovelas on women in Bogotá and the way in which this form of media exacerbates

the ideologies women are exposed to. It is clear that further examination of the role of

telenovelas is needed, as well as research set within the context of Bogotá.

Methodology Overview

I selected the survey and media analysis methodologies in order to gain an in-depth

insight into the impact of telenovelas on the conception of the ideal body in Bogotá.

These methods enabled me to engage with the cultural issues embedded within the

telenovelas and the opinions of the female public in Bogotá, as well as providing me

with both quantitative and qualitative data.

One part of my methodology research required that I determined and identified the

opinions, attitudes, perceptions and feelings of females living in Bogotá. Thomas

describes how, ‘a carefully constructed survey can provide information for many

types of projects, such as…determining opinions, attitudes and beliefs’ (Thomas

1999, p. 2). It was important that I formulated a survey that would obtain the most

telling and interesting results in regard to my research question and that would allow

me to articulate thought-provoking conclusions.



I created a survey with clear, concise questions in order to ensure that the respondent

did not lose interest in the task. For this reason, I limited my survey to 14 questions,

the first of which dealt with the demographic information of the respondent. I paid

close attention to the construction and wording of the questions as it is important to

consider that ‘respondents’ abilities to provide accurate and useful information are

enhanced when they can immediately understand what is being asked and the purpose

of the question’ (Office of Quality Improvement 2010, p. 6). Compared to interviews

or a focus group, a survey is arguably more consistent because questions are in a set

form and there is limited risk of distraction or straying off topic.

I used a combination of both open and closed questions. While open questions can be

difficult to analyse and quantify, they allow for an increased amount of reflection

from the respondents that can prove useful in providing further insight into the

research topic. Open questions can sometimes result in unusable data however, they

also can ‘provide absolutely indispensable insight into how respondents interpret

complex but apparently single-issue questions’ (Labaw 1980, p. 134).

While I considered using the interview methodology, I was seeking to understand the

overall consensus about the notion of the idealized body within the city and surveys

‘can be distributed widely without considerable expense, thereby reaching a larger

number of respondents than would be possible through an interview’ (Ross 1974, p.

68). Furthermore, the survey provided the respondents with a level of anonymity that

I believe was helpful in ensuring that the respondents answered honestly. People are

often more comfortable in disclosing information when they know that their names

will not be associated with it (Bradburn, Sudman & Wansink, 2004). This was

particularly important to me given that some of the questions in the survey dealt with

issues that some may consider to be private or personal information.



There are some drawbacks with the survey methodology that I needed to consider and

address prior to developing my questions. Firstly as Bernard notes, ‘you have no

control over how people interpret questions on a self-administered instrument’

(Bernard 2011, p 193). In order to address this, I ensured that questions were easily

comprehensible and tried to minimise my use of complicated or convoluted language.

The questions were edited by and pre-tested on native Spanish speakers in order to

reduce ambiguity and the potential for misinterpretation. Ross explains that there is

‘less knowledge of the respondent (and) a lack of personal contact in a survey’ (Ross

1974, p 68) and thus in order to avoid sterile responses about what I believe to be a

fascinating issue I included open-ended questions. Open ended questions pose benefit

as they produce qualitative data therefore, allow for an understanding of the reasons

behind certain attitudes about body types (such as questions where respondents

described the ‘ideal body’) rather than simply providing me with statistical evidence

Media analysis was a clear choice as my other methodology as I was investigating the

direct impact of a form of media on a particular population. According to

communications theories, repeated exposure to media content leads viewers to accept

media portrayals as representations of reality (Schooler et al. 2004, p. 38). The media

‘serves as a mediating structure between individuals and their bodies by sending a

powerful message to society: only a determined physical stereotype of beauty is

valued’ (Sepúlveda & Calado 2012, p. 47). Thus the narratives and characters

portrayed in telenovelas add to this myth of the idealized body, endorsing certain

body types while criticising others. Consequently, the media analysis was the most

suitable method to evaluate the role of telenovelas in defining the ideologies that will



be discussed and the subsequent opinions of the consumers (O’Sullivan et al. 1994, p.

115). Given the time constraint of the assignment and the depth of analysis and

understanding I wished to achieve through watching the telenovelas, I chose to

analyse the two telenovelas, rather than four, that I deemed to have had the biggest

cultural impact on Colombia due to their popularity as well as their recognition in

academic circles. Soy Betty La Fea, though analysed in the existing literature, has an

irrefutable place within the culture of Colombian telenovelas. Written by Fernando

Gaitán, it was produced and broadcast in Colombia by RCN between 1999 and 2001.

Although it is no longer being produced, it continues to be shown on television in

Bogotá regularly and has been remade in several countries including the well-known

appropriation from the United States, Ugly Betty. Produced in 2006 by Caracol

Television, Sin Tetas No Hay Paraíso was also incredibly successful and shown in

many countries other than Colombia. The deceit, drama and tragedy of the narco-

culture caught the attention of viewers worldwide and it remains relevant as a critical

text in understanding the pressures of the cosmetic surgery industry and its impact on

female body image.

While some argue that media analysis should be purely quantitative, others maintain

that both quantitative and qualitative methods can be used, particularly as

‘humanistic content study naturally gravitates towards qualitative analysis’ and thus

quantitative analysis does not always ‘provide a complete picture of meaning and

contextual codes, since texts may contain many other forms of emphasis besides sheer

repetition’ (Reese & Shoemaker 1996, p. 31). My analysis of the telenovelas focused

on the storylines within the texts and the representations of the main characters and



thus much of what I concluded was in qualitative form, focused on how different

components of the two series add to construction of the ideal body.

The Framing of Beauty and Bodies in ‘Sin Tetas

No Hay Paraíso’ and ‘Yo Soy Betty La Fea’

1. The body as a means of social ascension

“This hole, I want to get

out of this hole, I want to make a lot of money, I want to conquer the whole

world and truly make it mine”

(Theme song of Sin Tetas No Hay Paraíso)

Based on a Gustavo Bolivar’s novel of the same title, Sin Tetas No Hay Paraíso is the

story of Catalina, a seventeen-year old girl from Pereira, a city in the department of

Antioquia historically associated with the drug trade. She seeks work as an escort with

a powerful local drug lord and much of the story line focuses on the idea that she

needs larger breasts in order to escape a life of poverty. Consequently, a fundamental

element of the program focuses on the notion that if Catalina embodies such body

ideals she will achieve all that she desires, which appears to roughly translate to the

attention of men who are wealthy enough to support her.



The opening credits of Sin Tetas No Hay Paraíso proved interesting to analyse as they

encapsulate the thematic concerns of the telenovela and highlight the dimensions

involved in the ideal body represented throughout the program. The credits show

dismembered Barbie-like dolls being repaired, and improved, at the hands of a male.

While the doll has much of the same body proportions as the original Barbie doll, the

male selects the largest breasts possible as he puts her back together. Once her body is

properly transformed she comes alive, a beautiful colombiana with perfect hair and

make-up, who is then literally strapped into a box, a menacing stretch of cord fastened

across her throat, and placed on a shelf filled with other dolls as if she were about to

be sold. Firstly, the image of the Barbie doll is profoundly western and recognised as

a ‘cultural icon of female beauty’ with her silky blonde hair, dazzling blue eyes and

long, thin legs. The addition of the disproportionate breasts hints at the pressures

placed on Colombian women, forced to conform to the western body ideals of

extreme thinness and narrow waist while also expected to exhibit their Latina-ness

through their voluptuousness. Secondly, the notion of mass-produced dolls, all with

the exact same proportions, enforces the idea that conformity is valued over

individuality. It emphasises the idea that there is one set ideal body rather than a

multiplicity of body shapes that can be considered beautiful. This aspect was

reinforced by the responses in the surveys where it was clear the respondents pictured

a specific image when asked to describe the ideal body. The word ‘delgada’ (thin)

was used as the principal feature to describe the ideal body in 25% of the responses.

In these credits and within the telenovela, one can recognise that there exists a

criticism of the culture of patriarchy that oppresses women by implicitly forcing them

to look a certain way if they wish to have a certain future. The series appears to place



the blame upon the narcotrafficking industry for obliging women to change their

bodies. However, it fails to recognise the more structural gender issues at hand.

Despite this apparent underlying criticism, the series still participates in the

dissemination of certain body types as more beautiful than others. All the female

characters conform to the traditional idea of beauty, not only in their body shape but

also in their hair, makeup, sexualised clothing and stance. Apart from her lack of

breasts, Catalina is attractive and naturally slim. In fact, it is suggested that all she

requires to be the perfect woman is larger breasts. The girls are exaggeratedly

sexualised, even when they have no contact with the male characters and their

obsession with their appearance pervades every episode of the series. It is their

beauty, their sexually attractive bodies that are their only means of escaping poverty.

The opening scene of the first episode shows Catalina experiencing a nightmare in

which she is taunted and ridiculed for the size of her breasts by her female peers.

While the credits demonstrate the male influence in defining what women should

consider beautiful, the nightmare and the presence of other women, also suggest that

the way women construct their ideas of beauty is not solely related to the perceptions

of men. While Catalina’s ultimate aim is to become financially stable through her

relationships with men, she is concerned about how she is perceived by other women

as well as how she is compared to other women. Surprisingly, no respondents to the

survey considered their peers a source of pressure to change their bodies. When

questioned, 65% of the respondents cited themselves as the source of pressure, 24%

recognised the media as the source and 12% elected their parents. This would suggest

that many young adult women have internalised this representation of the ideal body

to the point that achieving such a corporal form becomes a pressure they place on



themselves. One could argue that young women are so surrounded by images and

representations that tell them how to interpret ‘beauty’ and ‘ugliness’, that it engulfs

previous understandings they may have had. Consequently, images in the media

convince them that the ‘ideal body’ is something they desire for themselves.

2. Beauty as an (un)attainable goal

It is said of me,

It is said that I’m ugly,

That I walk toward evil

That I’m crooked and move with a boastful air

That I seem like a dinosaur

My nose is pointed

My figure doesn’t help me

And my mouth is too big

(Theme song of Yo Soy Betty La Fea)

As suggested by the title of the series, Yo Soy Betty La Fea, the narrative revolves

around discourses that centre on the female’s physical appearance and constructions

of ‘the beautiful’ and ‘the ugly’ as two distinct, dichotomous categories. It is told

from the perspective of Beatriz, a working-class, awkward and “ugly” young woman

who applies for the position of a secretary at EcoModa, a high-fashion company. Her

‘ugliness’ manifests itself in many ways, she has oversized red glasses, braces, greasy

hair and, juxtaposed with her colleagues, dresses in dowdy old-fashioned clothes.

Even her voice characterizes her ugliness; it is shrill, high-pitched and wavering

highlighting her insecurity and lack of confidence. The lyrics of the theme song,



supposedly sung by Beatriz, list all the characteristics that make her ‘ugly’ with

particular reference to the way she moves and presents herself, and her figure. The

fact that Beatriz sings the song shows a level of self-recognition and implies that she

is aware of the beauty standards at play, particularly in the world of EcoModa.

The first episode begins with Beatriz arriving at EcoModa for her interview but the

viewer does not initially see her, as it is all shot from her point-of-view. Instead, the

viewer must make their first impression of Beatriz from the way other people react

toward her and immediately one can sense that she is out of place, treated as inferior

to Patricia Fernandez, the other interviewee, due to her failure to comply with the

expected standards of femininity. The use of two seemingly opposite interviewees in

the opening scene immediately creates two distinct categories in which females can be

placed. This dichotomous notion of beauty and ugliness continues throughout the

series, reinforced by the role of Beatriz’s friends el cuartel de las feas (the cartel of

ugly women). The seven women (Beatriz, Sandra, Mariana, Aura María, Berta, Ines

and Sofía) are excluded from the ideal aesthetic for different reasons. Together, they

are too tall, too overweight, too unfashionable or too old to be considered truly

beautiful. The body type of each woman in the ‘cuartel’ acts as a warning: ‘this is not

the body to have’. Instead, the ideal is promoted by Marcela and Patricia, who are

slim but curvaceous enough to dress in a manner that accentuates what one would

define as their most feminine features.

An overwhelming number of respondents (more than 76%) affirmed that a there is a

stereotypical body type depicted in telenovelas. A majority of the responses focused

on the body type that has been discussed previously, western or Eurocentric thinness

combined with curves that hint at the sexualised Latina. Some responses included: Es



ultra operada con el pelo liso hasta la cintura y la cabeza vacía (It is very operated

on, with straight hair down to the waist and an empty head), Delgadas pero

voluptuosa (thin but voluptuous), Las protagonistas usualmente son mujeres con

facciones muy perfectas, y cuerpos delgados pero voluptuosos (The protagonists are

usually women with perfect features and thin but voluptuous bodies), Modelo de

revista, muy delgada y voluptuosa (like a magazine model, very thin and voluptuous),

Senos y cola grande, pelo siempre peinado, maquillaje, cutis perfecto (Big breasts

and behind, hair always done, makeup, perfect complexion), Delgado pero con

muchas curvas (thin but with lots of curves), Las actrices son delgadas y altas, pero

tienen cola y senos (the actresses are thin and tall but have a rear and breasts). These

descriptions accurately describe the women of Sin Tetas No Hay Paraíso and the

attractive characters Soy Betty La Fea.

Despite there being similarities between the women of the cuartel and Marcela and

Patricia, such as the ‘hypersexual’ behaviours of both Patricia and Aura Maria of the

cuartel, the two groups of women are constantly compared and juxtaposed. This is

reminiscent of the way many women subconsciously compare themselves to other

women and underscores the pervading importance of conforming to cultural standards

of beauty. While Beatriz eventually works her way up through the company, her

appearance alters as she does so. Thus, the viewer is introduced to this notion of

necessary self-improvement. For example Beatriz’s love interest, Armado, does not

change in appearance throughout the series while Beatriz slowly morphs from ugly

duckling to swan. This promotes the notion that a woman can always strive to

improve the way she looks, a fruitless and unnecessary task for a male. While

Beatriz’s body shape does not change drastically, the way she presents her body does,



carrying with it the implication that a woman should dress in a way that is deemed

attractive by the standards of beauty imposed on a society. Yo Soy Betty La Fea

therefore succeeds in reproducing social norms of femininity and promoting the

narrative that Beatriz and her cuartel could transform themselves and become

‘beautiful’. Thus, the series leaves one with the sense that unless a woman possesses

this ideal body and conforms to the standards of beauty, then she must be unhappy

with her appearance and wish to change the way she looks.

Both telenovelas paint beauty, and thus the ideal body, as something that is not

inherent within one’s self, but something that can be attained through accommodating

particular norms of femininity. It is a goal to strive toward. Women can ‘reconstruct’

themselves in order to become beautiful, but this notion of beautiful is a narrow one,

highlighted by the consistency in the body types of ‘attractive’ characters. In Sin Tetas

No Hay Paraíso this is manifested in cosmetic surgeries, particularly breast

augmentation, and in Yo Soy Betty La Fea it is body transformations (hair removal,

contact lenses), adornments and changes to one’s fashion sense.

Survey Results

1. Body Satisfaction in Bogotá

In the beauty salons, barber shops and tiendas across Bogotá, the chances of

encountering a television playing a telenovela, regardless of the time of day, is high.

As a result, I was unsurprised to learn that of the respondents, women 18-29 and



mainly students, 62% considered themselves consumers of telenovelas. Of these

women, 57% watched telenovelas daily or at least a few times a week. As a result, a

majority had been exposed, at least at some point, if not regularly, to the

representations of women in these types of series.

Fifty-eight % of respondents were not satisfied with their body with a majority of

respondents citing feeling overweight, wishing they were thinner or cellulitis as the

reasons for their dissatisfaction. Some responses included: Me siento gorda (I feel

fat), Porque tengo celulitis y estrias, además de un poco de sobre peso (Because I

have cellulitis and stretch marks, furthermore I’m a little overweight), Quisiera

adelgazar (I would like to be skinnier). With this sense of dissatisfaction in mind,

62% of respondents said that they would like to lose weight or change some aspect of

their body. These statistics intimate that there is a general feeling of discontent

amongst the women regarding the state of their bodies and that the majority would not

categorise themselves as having the ideal body. Furthermore, there is the

overwhelming sense that to be overweight or larger drastically affects one’s degree of

‘beauty’ and thus beauty is intrinsically linked to the nature of one’s body.

In spite of the constant reference to the seemingly paradoxical bodies portrayed in

telenovelas, thin yet somehow voluptuous, large breasts against a tiny frame, 65% of

respondents believed that the women in telenovelas had a healthy body type with the

responses highlighting other aesthetically pleasing aspects of characters that worked

to enhance the ‘beauty’ value of their bodies, such as hair, skin and flawless makeup.

This is problematic as existing literature and Sin Tetas No Hay Paraíso suggest the

body ideal currently promoted throughout Colombia is close to unattainable and can

often only be achieved through surgery and thus cannot be recognised as a healthy



standard to strive toward. It was also found that many respondents used similar

adjectives when describing the standard female character in a telenovela and

describing the ideal body. While not all respondents watch telenovelas, the results

showed the pervasive nature and embedded impact of telenovelas on the conception

of the ideal body in Bogotá.

Furthermore, though a large percentage of women were dissatisfied with their bodies,

a large percentage also believed that they had a correct understanding of what

constituted a healthy body and thus that somehow their dissatisfaction with their own

form was justified. The results indicate the acknowledgement of that one feels

discontent if one’s body does not comply with the ideal body, which often aligns with

the standard body in telenovelas, and therefore this feeling of discontent is warranted

and even healthy because the respondent has a healthy conception of body image.

The responses also implied that women in Bogotá do not necessarily associate the

pressure or dissatisfaction they feel with forms of media, but rather see it as

something internal and personal. Consequently, the many pressures at play in the

conception of the ideal body become internalised and impel women to adopt the

representations of the ideal body that surround them and in turn believe that coveting

this type of body is their own desire, rather than one affected by society, the media or

as discussed, telenovelas.

Conclusion



For years, different forms of media have shaped the world we live and allowed to

humans to attempt to make sense of reality. Telenovelas continue to be ingrained in

the Colombian entertainment culture and while dramatic and over-the-top, they permit

audiences to relate to social situations and derive meaning from the situations shown.

Furthermore, they allow for the construction of a cultural identity. From the research

above, it is also clear that the representations of women within telenovelas, with

particular focus on their appearance, adds to the conception of the idealized body and

helps in forming the idea that certain body types are valued over others. The results

from young adult females, mainly students, in Bogotá, shows that there is a high level

of body dissatisfaction and that this is due to respondents feeling their bodies do not

match their conception of the ideal body. Furthermore, this ideal body was extremely

similar to the bodies portrayed in telenovelas; thin and toned yet with womanly curves

and extremely large breasts. Like the out-of-proportion barbie in the opening credits

of Sin Tetas No Hay Paraíso, this body type is near impossible to have naturally and

thus places ridiculous, unattainable standards of beauty on the woman of Bogotá, and

furthermore, Colombia. Thus it is clear that telenovelas play a role in perpetuating

certain ideas about gender, beauty and bodies in a way that continues to impact the

women of the city.



References

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Latin America, Texas University Press, Austin.

Bernard, H. R. 2011, Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and

Quantitative approaches, Rowman Altamira, Baltimore.

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Appendix

1. Survey Questions and Results

Attached separately


Documents

The Impact of Telenovelas on the Conception of the Ideal Body in Bogotá