Being a woman and having an injured body: a study of social representations

Abstract

Objective: To discuss the social representations of women with chronic wounds about being a woman and having a body injured and the implications of these representations on social relations. Methods: Qualitative research with women with chronic wounds, attended at health units in Bahia who answered the interview in depth and draft-story theme. The data were submitted to thematic content analysis. Results: Representations about being a woman and having a wounded body are centered on ideas and experiences that reveal stigma, pain, sadness, loneliness, irritation, dependence, and the need to approach God. Conclusion: The representations of the participants interfere in the way of dressing, of relating to oneself and to the people in their surroundings implying in isolation and solitude. Representations reproduce stigmas about body image that do not meet socially and culturally determined beauty and health criteria.