I am currently investigating the discoursive practise of referring to women by mentioning one of their body parts, or other personal attributes (articles of chlothing, etc.) .In italian it is customary in vulgar, sex related discourse to refer to women metonymically by using the metaphorical label for their sexual organ (figa/fica from the name of the fruit 'fig').
I'm looking for literature on similar phenomena in other languages, and of course in Italian. And in general on metonymy (synecdoche) as a means of referring to women.
Thank you
Dear Rosella,
Very interesting topic dealing with discoursive representation of reality. I did something similar in Spanish for one of my undergradute courses but with the masculine counterpar, using metaphor tho represent man sexuality. Interesting to see it accross languages. Going back to your topic, synecdoche (metonymy) would be different and a little difficult (my own perception). I'll keep an eye open to let you know if I come accross something related.
Good luck
Jorge E. Benavides B.
We have many such expressions in Chinese, my native language, e.g., "red face" for a woman, because in ancient China women often painted their face red to help themselves look more attractive. Another example is to use "white power (used to paint the face) and dark power (used to paint the eye-brows" to refer to women. Tons of such expressions exist in Chinese.