Percepción respecto al constructo social de la mujer cuencana a través del evento Reina de Cuenca, por parte de personas vinculadas a este certamen, en el periodo 2019 –2020

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to know the perception of people linked to the Reina de Cuenca contest regarding the social construct of Cuenca women through this event. To do this, it was proposed to investigate the motivations that influenced the decision of the candidates to run for the contest, then describe the perception that the participants have about the requirements that the event requests and their admission processes, and, finally, recognize the perceptions about the course of the event. The study had a qualitative approach, of transversal design, with an exploratory scope and involved ten people, including official candidates, people who delivered their folders and were not called to participate, and people who support the event. For the collection of the data were used; a socioeconomic record, a field journal and semi-structured interviews that were of my own authorship. The results obtained mainly express that the contest Reina de Cuenca constructs a female symbol with the characteristics that the city tries to sell about itself, that is, all those characteristics related to heteronormativity, the class and the religion understood from moral and Marianism, which materialize throughout the production processes of the candidates. It should be emphasized that Marianist vision is present with greater incidence in the candidates and is justified in the discourse that the contest handle on the concept of "integral beauty". On this, the practice of self-silencing is highlighted as one of the concepts of Marianism that prevailed throughout the interviews. Finally, it is emphasized that the production and reproduction of this stereotyped female image is the appropriate support to maintain the differences of an unequal social structure.