Comunicación y Género [Communication and Gender]
The main objective of the journal Comunicación y Género (ISSN-e 2605-1982) will be to disseminate research on this subject that is being carried out in different universities in different countries. The most recent studies on international communication include the gender perspective as an element of fundamental analysis to understand the impact of the media on social and political changes, as well as on the awareness and prevention of gender violence, one of the great scourges of contemporary democracies. Comunicación y Género (Communication and gender) will include research on journalism, advertising, institutional and business communication, audiovisual media and documentation, as well as studies on new technologies and other fields of experimental and social sciences linked to communication from an intersectionality perspective.
In order to support the global exchange of knowledge, the journal Comunicación y Género is allowing unrestricted access to its content as from its publication in this electronic edition, and as such it is an open-access journal. The originals published in this journal are the property of the Complutense University of Madrid and any reproduction thereof in full or in part must cite the source. All content is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 use and distribution licence (CC BY 4.0). This circumstance must be expressly stated in these terms where necessary. You can view the summary and the complete legal text of the licence.
The inclusion of the gender perspective in university teaching: real commitment or genderwashing
Spanish universities have the responsibility of incorporating the gender perspective in all their functions and areas, including teaching, as required by law (Ley Orgánica 2/2023, de 22 de marzo, del Sistema Universitario). Hence this research article, whose objective is to know the degree of implementation of equality measures for teaching, and the type of measures they promote, in those Spanish universities where degrees in Advertising and Public Relations are taught. Of the 35 Spanish universities, public and private, that teach the degree in Advertising and PR (RUCT, 2023), the 30 universities that have renewed the teaching of the degree for upcoming academic years were selected for the analysis. Once the equality plans were recovered, a content analysis of them was carried out, excluding 1) the universities that did not have an Equality Plan or that did not have it publicly available online as of September 17 and 2) the equality plans that did not have a specific objective of including the gender perspective in teaching. Relevant conclusions are drawn from this analysis, which show that Spanish universities have made uneven progress in incorporating the gender perspective in university teaching, with a greater commitment observed in public universities.
Copyright (c) 2026 Comunicación y Género [Communication and Gender]
Communication and Experiences of Street Sexual Harassment: Impact on Women's Lives in Spain
The unwanted interactions that women suffer in public spaces have historically been ignored. This is the most normalized gender violence, masked as courtship, which has become one of the most common human rights violations. In order to analyze and deepen the impact of Street Sexual Harassment in the lives of women in Spain, a qualitative research was conducted through in-depth interviews. The results show that Sexual Street Harassment is a social problem that affects the majority of women in Spain, especially the youngest ones. This type of violence is perpetrated by unknown men, provoking negative feelings and changes in the lifestyle of the victims, such as restrictions in their mobility. In short, public space has become a threat to women, where they suffer different types of violence that threaten their freedom and physical and moral integrity, but which is still not given sufficient importance.
Copyright (c) 2025 Comunicación y Género [Communication and Gender]
Between feminist visibility and anti-feminist backlash: exploring the Twitter discussion of the Le Monde “anti-#MeToo” letter
The present study analyses a controversial case study in the #MeToo campaign: the publication of an “anti-#MeToo” letter in Le Monde in January 2018. Through content analysis of a sample of social media posts in the week that followed the publication of the letter, the study explores how users interpret a high-profile instance of backlash against #MeToo at the height of its visibility. This analysis brings to light a number of themes that are useful to understand many tensions between “popular feminism” and “popular misogyny” in current debates on gender politics, including anti-feminist backlash, witch-hunt and moral panic discourses, and women’s and men’s claims to victimhood.
A Girls’-Eye View: Italian female adolescence and girlhood media representations
Over the last few years, production companies and streaming platforms in Italy have enriched their catalogues with films and TV series targeting adolescents, where the topoi of this age are addressed in order to build identification and engagement: conflict with parents, school, self-discovery in terms of identity and sexuality, body changes, friendship, love, rule breaking and so on. In the plethora of adolescent-themed films and TV series, the experience of girlhood is narrated with its own specificity, and not necessarily within the frame of post-feminist girl power culture, but in more nuanced ways, representing all the issues and contradictions of being a girl. In order to understand the degree of identification with such products, the A Girls’ Eye View research project has interviewed girls from ten different schools across Italy on themes such as media consumption, adolescence, body issues, gender issues. This article focuses on three main aspects of girlhood and how it is narrated by both interviewees and media products: parent-adolescent conflict, the relationship with one’s own body especially once it enters the regime of heterosexist society, and mother-daughter relationships. What the research has discovered is that, even though streaming platforms and production companies have made significant effort in portraying relatable experiences of girlhood, some topics are addressed in ways that are very different from the responses of the girls interviewed. Nonetheless, the multiplication of girlhood narratives has led to a higher degree of appropriation, adaptation, and negotiation between media products and audience.
The female journalist in #MeToo cinema: analysis of She Said (2022) & Bombshell (2019)
This study examines the cinematic representation of the events that led to the emergence of the #MeToo movement through two of its most emblematic films: She Said (2022) and Bombshell (2019). By watching and analyzing these films, the research explores the events that sparked the #MeToo movement on October 15, 2017, a pivotal initiative in denouncing abuses against women in both professional and personal spheres.
Incels vs. Femcels: Dissecting the Gendered Realities of Involuntary Celibacy
The aim of this research is to conduct a comparative analysis between two web subcultures: Incels (male involuntary celibates) and Femcels (female involuntary celibates), both marked by a radical view of social reality and strong feelings of envy, anger, and resentment toward the opposite sex. Focusing on the /r9k/ (Incels) and Crystal.cafe (Femcels) imageboards, it examines how derogatory language fosters group identity and homophilic networks, fueling emotional polarization. Through Digital Media Ethnography, we investigate how these dynamics unfold, exploring whether such interactions deepen exclusion and resentment, with potential implications for real-world social relations.
Emotional habitus through media: toxic romance and the rise of “malaise” in intimate relationships
This study investigates the role of emotional habitus in contemporary media, focusing on the portrayal of toxic masculinity in the Italian TV series “Mare Fuori” and its influence on digital culture, particularly on TikTok. Emotions, rather than being solely individual experiences, are examined as socially constructed phenomena embedded within gendered power structures. Through an analysis of the "malaise" (malessere), a character romanticized for his dominance, jealousy, and possessiveness, this research reveals how patriarchal norms are reproduced and legitimized via popular culture and social media trends. The emotional habitus of "malaise" is shaped by emotions such as jealousy and anger, manifesting in control and dominance, key traits of hegemonic masculinity. Meanwhile, the women associated with this figure internalize emotions of suffering and fear, reinforcing narratives of submission and affective dependence. Moreover, the study underscores the heuristic and practical value of the concept of emotional habitus in understanding the intersection of social norms, emotions, and power dynamics in intimate relationships
The impact of song lyrics on young people's social dynamics: a critical discourse analysis perspective
This research investigates the influence of urban music genres on the configuration of identities and the dynamics of youth social relations. It focuses on the lyrics of these music genres, which often contain references to violence, promiscuity, consumerism, machismo and substance abuse. In an environment dominated by technologies and social networks, it is postulated that these lyrics can have a significant impact on youth behavior, affecting their social development. The aim is to discern how these genres stereotype and normalize behavior in young people. Using Critical Discourse Analysis, we examine the content of these lyrics and their relationship to social dynamics, seeking to understand their integration into social norms and their effect on youth perceptions and behavior. The findings reveal a correlation between exposure to these genres and youth behaviors, highlighting their influence on the formation of identities and social practices.
University, inclusive language and hate in social networks: A comparative study between Argentina and Brazil
This article aims to analyze the hate reactions in social networks to the pronouncement regarding inclusive language of the Provincial University of Cordoba (Argentina) and the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (Brazil). Three posts made by each of these universities between 2020 and 2022 were observed. A review of the publications of both universities and an analysis of their comments were carried out. The “expected” discourses around the Universities were recognized as well as the linguistic survivals that are articulated (Butler, 1997). The linguistic preconcept (Bagno, 1999) and its relationship with the LI was addressed. Finally, emotions were analyzed as constructions that shape individual and collective bodies (Ahmed, 2015).
The communicative strength of feminist cinema: violence and mothering in contemporary mexican cinema
This article reflects on mothering and its representation in contemporary Mexican cinema, based on the assumption that cinema with a feminist perspective is committed to criticism but, above all, to communicating the problems of women in their context. For the purposes of this article, we will focus on analyzing, based on content analysis, the representation of women and their mothering, in two fundamental films of contemporary Mexican cinema: Ruido (Natalia Beristáin, 2023) and Noche de fuego (Tatiana Huezo, 2021). As an expressive and socializing act, feminist cinema is a communicative practice in that it seeks to vindicate the experience of women, from a situated body, as a place of knowledge and recognition.
Antifeminism as a disciplining and moralizing device of the New Right: an argentinean case study
This article analyses the role of antifeminism as a disciplining and moralizing device of masculinities, on the one hand, and its capitalization by the New Right and its neoliberal policies of adjustment and repression, on the other. And it does so by focusing on digital activism of two renowned Argentinean antifeminist influencers. Through the documentary analysis of a selection of their YouTube videos, we propose a systematization of their concepts and rhetoric, and a critical reflection on them. The results show us that antifeminism is constructed through an “intersectionality of hatreds” that mobilizes gender, religious and neoliberal arguments, in order to legitimize the disappearance of the state as a guarantor of citizens’ rights.
Reincorporation into the present of a budding architect
The Vegetarian (2007), by Han Kang, who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2024, becoming the youngest woman to do so, tells the story of a South Korean woman who, upon awakening from a disturbing dream, decides to stop eating meat, breaking with the familial and social norms that regulate her life. This seemingly simple choice unleashes a series of conflicts with her husband, her parents, and her surroundings, who react violently and controllingly to her desire for autonomy. The novel, organized into three parts, narrated from different perspectives, explores the repression of the female body, alienation in contemporary society, and the possibility of resistance through renunciation and bodily transformation. It is a disturbing tale that intertwines violence, desire, and freedom in the context of deep cultural and patriarchal tensions.
Barbie’s Feminism in Transmedia Marketing: Symbolic Consumption and Gender Stereotypes among University Women in Mazatlán
Transmedia marketing strategies have incorporated feminist discourses to re-signify iconic products such as Barbie, aligning them with narratives of inclusion and empowerment. This study examines whether the femvertising practices of Mattel and the film Barbie (2023) contribute to the reinforcement or deconstruction of gender roles and stereotypes. The research was conducted in the Mexican context using a sequential mixed-methods approach, combining content analysis of the film with a questionnaire administered to an intentional sample of 90 female university students from the Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa. The findings reveal the persistence of Western beauty standards, aspirations linked to material consumption, and a willingness to reproduce the Barbie symbolic universe. The study concludes that the film embodies a commodified “pink feminism” that reinforces patriarchal values through symbolic-cultural consumption, evidencing the neoliberal co-optation of emancipatory discourses within transmedia marketing strategies.
Where is the figure of the woman director? Podcasts as a way of developing references
Cinema is a key symbolic and pedagogical tool in contemporary cultural socialization. In the context of increasingly diversified audiovisual consumption, this study proposes an analysis of Spanish-language film podcasts—an expanding format with low entry barriers and potential for greater diversity. Using a database of podcasts focused on film criticism and recommendations, the study examined the films mentioned to identify discursive patterns. The results reveal a strong presence of U.S. cinema and a focus on films from the 1980s and 1990s, though there is no absolute homogeneity in the recommendations. A significant finding is the low visibility of women in authorial roles, particularly as directors. This systematic omission limits the presence of female role models and reinforces a male-dominated view of film authorship. As a result, it hinders the development of a more inclusive and diverse cinematic canon within the communicative ecosystem represented by these podcasts.
Media Representations of the Micaela Law: Between Mainstreaming and Controversy in the Salta Press (Argentina)
The article analyzes media representations of the Micaela Law in the digital press of Salta (Argentina) during its provincial adoption and implementation in 2019. It examines how El Tribuno, Nuevo Diario, and Qué Pasa Salta shaped meanings and disputes surrounding this gender mainstreaming policy in a polarized context following the abortion debate. Using a qualitative and socio-semiotic approach, the study examines a corpus of 14 news articles, finding that the first two outlets legitimize the law as an institutional advancement, while the latter emphasizes controversy and resistance, reinforcing the political and cultural divide.
What color is your Bugatti? Gym bros and the neoliberal narrative of the manosphere
There is a growing number of fitness influencers on the Internet, popularly known as gym bros, who use physical exercise to reinforce a masculine ideal based on control, strength and money as symbols of status and power. The most famous Spanish-speaking figure is Spaniard Amadeo Lladós, with over one and a half million followers on his social media platforms. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the ideological connection of gym bros with the manosphere, for which 25 videos published by Lladós on Instagram were reviewed using the Critical Discourse Analysis technique. The results show how their narratives share language and connect with the masculinist and neoliberal ideals of the manosphere.
La incomodidad hecha palabra. Lecturas contemporáneas sobre identidades femeninas
Reseña sobre el libro La rosa incómoda. Trabajo en el que se presentan propuestas relacionadas con la revisión del canon literario, la eliminación de estereotipos de género y la búsqueda de identidades a través de la lectura de obras escritas por mujeres.
This article seeks to reflect on the representations of sorority that telenovela in Peru, Chile and Mexico have given us in recent years, since several of them are staging situations and themes related to gender violence against women. We are committed to this topic because of its importance and validity, but also because the telenovela is a story historically associated with the female universe; and sorority manifests itself as a feminine experience and practice. It is relevant in the Latin American context because the violence numbers already constitute a pandemic against women. We know that the telenovela reproduces, recreates, and makes visible the norms and mandates, beliefs and sanctions of each society and is talking about social subjects generically constituted in specific times and contexts, because the telenovela offers us a set of representations that affect the way we live, and we experience our own subjectivity. As Teresa de Lauretis (1989) said, gender inscription is an effect produced in bodies.
Copyright (c) 2024 Comunicación y Género [Communication and Gender]
Characterisations of Manuela Carmena as Mayoress of Madrid in different audiences
The first female mayors in Spain date back to 1924. Since then, progress has been made in the occupation of positions of power by women, but gender stereotypes still persist in the minds of the public. In the case of Manuela Carmena, former mayor of Madrid, her prestige was unquestionable until she assumed political office. In order to analyse the correlation between the representations that the progressive and conservative media made of Manuela Carmena and the mental images that different audiences had of her, two focus groups were carried out. We found that gender stereotypes still shape beliefs about women's abilities to hold positions of power, validating phenomena such as Think Manager-Think Male or status beliefs
Teaching from a gender perspective in advertising studies: the DOCENTIA programme’s incentive policy
The effective implementation of the legal mandate for gender mainstreaming in university teaching has hardly been tested. The main objective of this research is to analyse whether the inclusion of the gender perspective in teaching is an evaluable item in the teacher evaluation programmes. In order to meet this objective, the quantitative technique of content analysis was used to examine the gender approach in the DOCENTIA programmes of the universities that offer the degree in Advertising and Public Relations in Spain. Only a small number of universities include teaching with a gender perspective as one of the defining elements of teaching quality in their training programmes. Gender-sensitive training for Advertising and Public Relations students lacks institutional support in DOCENTIA programmes, which prevents them from facing resistance and undermines their future professional development.
“Salteñidad” and gender: a situated analysis of social representations of femicide in journalistic discourse
September 9, 2024 marked the 10th anniversary of the enactment of the Public Emergency for Gender Violence in Salta, Argentina. In this regard, within the framework of a doctoral thesis, it was proposed to study the social representations on the media treatment of femicide in the Salta press during this period. In particular, the aim of this article is to share the results of the content and discourse analysis on the native category of salteñidad in dialogue with others such as revictimization and culpabilization, widely worked on in the field of communication and gender. For this purpose, 116 news items published by the local newspaper El Tribuno on the femicides of Jimena Salas and Andrea Neri were studied using a qualitative methodology combined with the use of quantitative techniques.
Reseña de Ecoficciones. Cine para ‘sentipensar’ la crisis climática, de Asun Bernárdez, Valencia, Tirant lo Blanc, 2023
Reseña de Emprender con calma, de Patricia Araque, Arpa, Barcelona, 2024
Reseña de La vegetariana, Han Kang, Random House, 2024
An approach to feminist journalism in Colombia: scenarios, roles and perspectives
The purpose of this social research is to analyze the impact of feminist journalism on the transformation of the social fabric of Colombia. Media with a feminist perspective dedicate their efforts to make gender violence visible and to challenge the social, cultural and political structures that perpetuate discrimination and violence against women. Feminist journalism plays a highly relevant role in the struggle for gender equality in the Colombian context. A mapping of the digital ecosystem of feminist media in Colombia was carried out and several feminist journalists and gender studies experts were interviewed in order to explore how feminist journalism is perceived as a tool for social transformation in the Colombian context. The voices of these women constitute an essential component for the development of this social research.
This study delves into the critical moments of interaction and conflict between Catholicism and homosexuality within Italian society, through the unique point of view of the catholic homosexuals. The analysis takes into consideration a corpus of documents often considered minor: letters to the editor featured in magazine mail sections, particularly focusing on those sent to 'Babilonia', a monthly magazine catering to the homosexual audience, between 1983 and 2000. These letters provide a unique window into the social aspect of homosexuality in the deeply divided Catholic Italian context ( Pasquini 2023). Furthermore, the corpus allows to explore coping strategies as social acts by Catholic homosexuals, including priests, to address stigma and reconcile their conflicting identities. This examination sheds light on their efforts to navigate between two worlds perceived as contradictory (O' Brien 2004; Arnone 2018).
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and the in/visibilisation of care work in TV fiction
This article analyses the in/visibilisation of care work in television fiction through the series The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. Grounded in the theoretical-interpretative framework of feminist economics, the study is carried out through critical discourse analysis and is operationalised in four discursive dimensions: the class meaning of care work, its hyper-feminisation, its implication in the re-production of femininity and the dichotomous tension between domesticity and employment. Thus, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel provides a suggestive opportunity to study the multidimensionality, everyday (dis)organisation and disciplining tolls of care work in intimate connection with femininity, as well as with its expressions of class and race.
The subversion of the collective imaginary in the representation of women: substance, weariness, and prejudice as bias in women’s sports-themed cinema
Cinema, as an artistic form of expression, plays a fundamental role in the construction of the collective imaginary of a society. Cinema has the power to influence our perceptions, beliefs, and values, shaping our view of the world. It has been dominated by a male gaze that has defined and represented women according to its own conceptions and desires. In recent decades, a new wave of female filmmakers has emerged, challenging and subverting that dominant male gaze. These filmmakers are claiming their place in the film industry and telling stories from an authentic female perspective. They explore themes such as desire, body, sexuality, and gender identity, breaking taboos and boundaries imposed by the male gaze. Films made by women also allow us to see sports through a different lens. Their movies not only focus on athletic performance but also on the human stories behind sporting achievements. In this sense, feminist filmmakers are challenging and subverting the collective imaginary rooted in a male representation of sports.
Violence and mediatization in contemporary times: a critical reading of the media construction of Lucio Dupuy Case in Argentina
On February 17, 2023, the Argentine justice system sentenced Magdalena Espósito Valenti and her partner Abigail Páez to life imprisonment for the murder of 5-year-old Lucio Dupuy. The case became known on November 26, 2021 and shocked public opinion due to its brutality and the power of its media coverage. The cruelty of this crime, for which the child’s mother and her partner were responsible, the torture and sexual violence he suffered marked some of the axes addressed in the media construction of the event. The event was characterized by an exacerbated and spectacular media coverage of the figure of the convicted women, which is why we are interested in highlighting the profound gendering in the development of this case; and we will seek to describe how the violence is expressed on multiple scales and contexts in order to address its materializations in the discourses analyzed.
Women, sport and media: Spanish radio coverage of the Soccer World Cup in Australia
In 2023, Australia and New Zealand organized the Women’s World Cup, a tournament that the Spanish team won. This research studies, through content analysis, the coverage carried out by Spanish radio stations of the final of that tournament. Cadena SER, COPE and Radio Nacional de España are analyzed, as well as their publications on the social network X and on their websites. The results reveal that we are facing the first case in which the media gives a truly relevant role to women’s sports, which have traditionally been forgotten and stereotyped. However, important differences have been detected in themes and approaches according to each station. The study allows us to conclude that there has been progress in coverage of women’s sports, although there is notable room for improvement based on some practices developed in this case.