A Troublesome Frame: Media Representation of the Abused Women in Contemporary Italy

Abstract

This essay focuses on media representation of intimate partner violence[1], with special attention paid to the abused woman image. Male portrait would be examined as well.My argument is that institutional and popular products share a similar view both about IPV and mistreated subjects: the first one is considered to be anomalous, the second weak and passive.This happens precisely because of the existence of a social representation on intimate partner violence.Of course, representations about IPV vary greatly depending on the producing individuals.Apart from differences, however, some recurring points are undeniable.On the one hand, report is showed as the main solution to the problem, whereas on the other hand the blaming and silencing of the victims are more than common in these messages.As a result, a vicious circle takes shape: as long as reporting to the authorities is shown as the most suitable solution to cope with the problem, whoever doesn’t match the institutional solution will be silenced, thus compromising the recovering of the abused woman.I will argue that considering the complexity that each situation of intimate partner violence involves is the first step to acknowledge the necessity of developing an alternative representation; specifically, one that focuses on the variety of aids provided by antiviolence centers.1: From now on, I will frequently refer to Intimate Partner Violence as IPV.