Remarques sur les portraits de femmes esquissés par les journalistes du Monde ou Vénus au miroir révisitée

Résumé

Some remarks on the portraits of women in the French daily Le Monde or Venus in front of the mirror revisited

The article discusses the portraits of women-authors of quoted statements drawn by journalists of the French daily Le Monde. These portraits can be divided into two groups. While in the first group, the appearance of the authors of statements quoted in the paper is not in any way described, in the second one, the journalist describes some selected elements of the women’s looks. The group of authors without descriptions of their appearance consists of notorious, well-known and anonymous speakers. In the group of portrayed authors of statements the reporter describes not only some carefully selected details of their appearance, but also their vocal behaviour and proxemics. Described and classified in this manner, the quoted speakers occupy their rightful place in the newspaper communication hierarchy. Some of them gain great recognition and authority, for others the journalist reserves a more modest place in Le Monde. Through the description of their appearance, the reporter may reaffirm their prestige and authority or, on the contrary, make them seem a bit ridiculous, without any influence on the fate of the world.