I never asked for a doll

reconstructing female meanings

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the representation of the female stereotype in the advertising campaign The Doll I Never Asked For, created by the sports brand Nike in 2019 during the FIFA Women's World Cup held in France. It was the first time the event was broadcast on free-to-air TV in Brazil. With it, campaigns about soccer featuring women as protagonists also emerged, such as the material to be analyzed in this article. The aforementioned campaign tells the childhood story of the Brazilian player Andressa Alves. Text and image portray the deconstruction of the woman's role in society by displaying signs that characterize the breaking of standards imposed on women. To achieve this, a literature review was conducted to contextualize the history of men's and women's soccer, based on Gustavo Poli and Lédio Carmona (2006), Marcos Guterman (2014), Osmar Moreira de Souza Júnior and Heloisa Helena Baldy dos Reis (2018), followed by the presentation of concepts on representation and stereotype, based on Stuart Hall (2016) and Homi Bhabha (2007) as main authors. For this analysis, methodological criteria were used, which characterize it as a basic research study, also constructed from qualitative and exploratory research. After conducting the study, the importance of the presence of female figures in the media was observed, in order to create a new language about women's behavioral patterns. The impact of female representation in conquering more egalitarian spaces also acts as a symbol of courage for other women. It was also noted how the use of certain signs such as colors and toys contributes to deconstructing stereotypes regarding women.