Exploring new forms of gender violence: women as objects in plastic surgery’s leaflets

Abstract

There are many texts in which images of women are used for different purposes in our society. This research explores the main strategies used to create meaning in two multimodal texts used by leaflets advertising cosmetic surgery in Alicante (Spain). The study aims to point out that women are treated as objects in these leaflets. To demonstrate this argument the main visual and linguistic characteristics will be analysed in both multimodal texts in which people are persuaded of the benefits of such surgery. Special attention will be paid to the influence that the different linguistic and visual choices may have on society. This study reveals that the image of women that appears in some leaflets of this type is so aggressive that it could be understood as a new form of gender violence.