BOLIVIA: Legislature debates use of sexual images of women on television and in advertising

Record ID: 732675

  • Title: BOLIVIA: Legislature debates use of sexual images of women on television and in advertising
  • Date: 10th November 2010
  • Summary: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (OCTBER 21, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BOLIVIAN TV STAR, JUSTA CANAVIRI, A MIXED RACE WOMAN DRESSED IN TRADITIONAL WAY, WALKING ALONGSIDE A FEMALE FRIEND DRESSED IN A WESTERNISED STYLE VARIOUS OF GROUP OF FRIENDS DRESSED IN A WESTERN WAY WITH CANAVIRI (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) BOLIVIAN TV STAR, JUSTA CANAVIRI, SAYING: "It depends on the eye of the beholder. For me, the muses of Rubens, Michelangelo's David, are beautiful. I see beautiful nudity. Perhaps someone else sees them with morbid fascination and says 'Oh, what barbarity!' It depends who is looking at it." CAMARA OPERATORS AT TELEVISION STATION CANAVIRI PRESENTING A WOMEN'S PROGRAMME, NEXT TO HER IS A BILLBOARD OF A DEODORANT ADVERT WITH HER PHOTO VARIOUS OF JUSTA CANAVIRI LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY MEETING OF THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES
  • Embargoed: 25th November 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Bolivia, Plurinational State Of
  • Country: Bolivia
  • Topics: Communications,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA61OYI73HWCYGETV4CLET18O9Y
  • Story Text: Bolivia divided by a debate over sexual images of women in advertising campaigns and on the television.
    A campaign is underway for a legal intervention to reduce the number of overly explicit billboards and racy television plots featuring semi-naked women. Those in favour of the proposition say these images jar with the country's more conservative, indigenous traditions.
    A bill imposing legal restrictions was proposed in October by a leading member of the ruling socialist party, Senate Leader Isaac Avalos, which led to a flurry of local news articles saying President Evo Morales wanted to ban 'erotic' soap operas.
    The vice president, Alvaro Garcia Linera, has denied that there are plans to impose a new law but the topic has remained hotly debated.
    Many feel the adverts give a skewed view of the multiethnic country, where much of the population has Amerindian roots and there are 37 official languages.
    Bolivian women traditionally dress in long skirts and hats, showing very little flesh.
    Some of the adverts on commercial television channels, however, are showing naked women in very sexual poses.
    Critics cite a furniture company that focuses its campaign on a woman writhing on the ground without any product shots as a sign that things have got out of hand.
    Since coming to power in 2006, President Evo Morales has rewritten the country's constitution to give greater prominence to the indigenous majority. He declared Bolivia not a nation but a 'plurination'.
    Morales has also focused on getting more people from indigenous backgrounds into top jobs and into the public eye.
    One success story is Bolivian presenter, Justa Canaviri, who has become a popular and regular figure on the television.
    When asked for her view on the debate, Canaviri remained pragmatic, saying different people can view the same image in contrasting ways.
    "It depends on the eye of the beholder. For me, the muses of Rubens, Michelangelo's David, are beautiful. I see beautiful nudity. Perhaps someone else sees them with morbid fascination and says 'Oh, what barbarity!' It depends who is looking at it," said Canavir.
    Canaviru also features in advertising campaigns, but in ones that have a much more conservative approach.
    At the Senate, Avalos is continuing to make his views clear.
    Erotic adverts for massage parlours, as found in local newspapers, are one example of provocative media he would like to see reduced.
    Avalos said he is not seeking to ban the adverts but he would like to see new restrictions.
    "When there is advertising, there are semi-naked girls. We also want to limit this. Not ban it, but restrict the [way of] dress so that the women can work easily without any problems," said Avalos.
    The state-run television channel, Bolivia TV, also shows Latin soap operas, as well as more conservative series from Iran, a country that has become a close partner in trade.
    Avalos claimed the content of soap operas can be unsuitable for children.
    "There are initiatives by Assembly members over the things you see in soap operas, such as divorces. The limitations are for soap operas that we consider unsuitable for the children and therefore we have initiative to work towards a future law," said Avalos.
    The country's model agencies are now worried about the affect restrictions could have on their industry.
    Director of Cinetel Modelling Agency, Carmen Chavez, who also organises beauty contests in La Paz, refutes claims that the work is immoral.
    "We always take care, in all the work that we do, to not cause harm to morals or the model or society around her. I think that if they don't use any more models, the agencies would not exist. This field would be limited or cease to exist," said Chavez.
    A Bolivian newspaper responded to the controversy with an exaggerated cartoon of what could happen to Bolivian women in advertising. The 'before' figure was dressed in a bikini, while the 'after' shot showed a woman hidden under a Middle Eastern-style burka.
    Intercutural researcher and director of the University of the Andes, Ramiro Molina, said balance was needed in a diverse society like Bolivia.
    "The debate has always been how to absorb the diversity of recent times inside the concept of nudity, how to create a proper balance. And from there, the interesting thing is to be autonomous. They don't respect the pluralism or the multiculturalism, which is the true basis, the fundamental mechanism, to integrate this country," said Molina.
    In October, many Bolivian journalists protested against a controversial bill designed to cut back on racist attacks in the media. They said it would infringe on the freedom of speech.
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