Com açúcar e sem afeto: as metáforas dos relacionamentos amorosos em revistas femininas e masculinas

Abstract

The present study was instigated by the results of previous research (FERREIRA, 2011), in which conceptual metaphors about teenage love relationships were analyzed, indicating a distinction in the attributions of female and male roles. In this way, the possibility of a new investigation appears, however, this time focusing on metaphors aimed at an adult audience, in order to verify whether the same representations of love and behavioral guidelines were shared between men and women. To this end, articles were selected for twelve months in the women s magazines Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan, and in the men's magazines GQ and VIP, all monthly publications of great circulation and belonging to reputable publishers. The metaphor is here considered in an integrative perspective, combining the Theory of Conceptual Metaphor (LAKOFF; JOHNSON, 1980, 1999; KÖVECSES, 2000, 2005, 2010) to discursive approaches to metaphor (CAMERON, 2003, 2005, 2008; VEREZA, 2010, 2013). While the discursive approach emphasizes social interaction in metaphorical use, postulating the existence of specific metaphors according to use, the analysis of the cognitive elements allows us to understand the cognitive motivations in these discursive interactions. The interpretation of the results of the discursive-cognitive analysis of the metaphors was made through a dialogue with studies of Sociology, Anthropology and Psychology (JABLONSKI, 1995; BABO, 2000; BAUMAN, 2004, 2005, 2008; GIDDENS, 1993, 2008; ALAMBERT, 2004; GODELIER, 1980, among others), which allowed a broader view of the concept of gender and contemporary love behaviors, aiming at recognizing male and female patterns of love and acting in affective relationships. In the editions considered, there has been a prevalence of metaphors LOVE IS BUSINESS, LOVE IS ART AND LOVE IS ENCHANTMENT / MADNESS, confirming relationships based on the search for benefits, as well as the alert about the danger of getting entangled by fantasies and idealizations. Independently, however, from the conceptualization made, it was found that men and women usually act differently in relationships. While romanticism, emotionality, and submission are considered to be pertinent to women, men, supposedly more objective and rational, assume the role of bosses and providers.