Women of Mauritania: Cathodic Images and Presentation of the Self

The article analyzes the transformations the female body has been the site of among Mauritanians in recent decades, and the role which visual media play in this matter. These media, and television in particular, offer women, in process of breaking away from traditional definitions of their sex, models which they can embrace. Recently, tensions have not failed to arise between their aspiration for modernity and religious imperatives demanding reaffirmation, which themselves are also expressed through the medium of the television channel.