“Look at this beautiful thing, full of grace”

the physical and symbolic violence against women in Rio’s Brand (2016-2018)

Abstract

Based predominantly on the work of Reis (2018) on the construction of city brands and the performative gender theory developed by Butler (1990), the aim is to examine the performativity of women in the identity, the image and the reputation of the Rio Brand between 2016 and 2018. The central argument points out that, in the manifestations of the physical and symbolic evidences of the Rio Brand’s identity, the woman is objectified in the face of the worsening violence against the female gender in the city. Physical violence is evident in the increase in cases of feminicide and domestic violence against women, while symbolic violence is evident in the marginal participation of women in the labor market – in which they remain poorly paid and concentrated in less valued functions; under-represented in the formulation of public policies in Rio de Janeiro and sexualized in the cultural representations of the city, despite the greater female participation in the sociocultural dimension of the carioca identity. In the image of the city – formed by the communication efforts of and on the Rio’s Brand –, even though the attention given to the feminine gender in public service communications and engagement is perpetuated, women are almost invisible in business communication. The generalized and objectifying stereotypes that place women in subaltern positions are gradually questioned in communications of international visibility and public opinion, but such communications are still unable to contribute to the effective elimination of patriarchal and misogynistic structures in the city. Given the unsatisfactory performance of Rio de Janeiro regarding gender equality, the reputation of the city ends up being impaired when compared to the international assessments of other city brands. It is concluded that the construction of the identity and image of the Rio’s Brand, in several aspects, is a gendered process that associates Rio de Janeiro with a status quo of maintaining and reproducing gender inequality in the city.

KEYWORDS: City brand. Rio de Janeiro. Gender.