The objective of our current research is to reflect on the social representations of women over 50 in modern media. On the one hand, the singer Madonna is celebrated as a role model of youth and body for a woman her age and yet, on the other, the rhetoric revolving around Carioca women over 50 who are considered 'fit' does not always agree with this hegemonic and globalised perception. Inspired by the interplay between the local context and global homogenisation at work in the symbolic construction of modern-contemporary societies, we embark on a comparison between youthful "girl from Ipanema" and Madonna's rejuvenated body. Methodologically, the choice for an anthropological study combined with the analysis of media discourse seeks to explore, among other themes, the understanding of the expression "I have age, but am not old" as well as the self-understanding of women labeled both 'middle aged' and 'ageless'. Summing up, the goal of our research is to discuss just what it means to "be young" within the perspective of gender in contemporary society, through our analysis of two constructed models based on local and global representations.
Youth; Gender; Madonna