Visibility or invisibility: contemporary Spanish female creators in the press

Visibilidade ou invisibilidade: as criadoras espanholas contemporâneas na imprensa

Visibilidad o invisibilidad: la mujer creadora contemporánea española en prensa

Abstract:

This study investigates the visibility of contemporary Spanish female creators in the cultural sections of two major Spanish newspapers during the 21st century. Using a two-phase methodology, the research combines a quantitative content inventory with a qualitative lexical analysis to conduct a longitudinal observation of gender representation in the press. The results reveal an underrepresentation of female creators, who appear in only 3% of articles on 21st-century Spanish artists, compared with 11% focused on their male counterparts. The lexical analysis shows that vocabulary related to men centers on their work, while articles about women emphasize personal aspects. A gender bias is evident in cultural journalism, highlighting the need for greater awareness and structural changes in media representation practices.

Keywords:
Art; Gender; Women, Press; Visibility

Resumo:

Este estudo investiga a visibilidade das criadoras espanholas contemporâneas nas seções culturais de dois dos principais jornais espanhóis durante o século XXI. Com uma metodologia em duas fases, a pesquisa combina um inventário quantitativo de conteúdo com uma análise lexical qualitativa para observar longitudinalmente a representação de gênero na imprensa. Os resultados revelam a sub-representação das criadoras, que aparecem em apenas 3% dos artigos centrados em artistas espanhóis do século XXI, frente a 11% dedicados aos seus homólogos masculinos. A análise lexical mostra que o vocabulário associado aos homens foca em sua obra, enquanto os artigos sobre mulheres enfatizam aspectos pessoais. Observa-se um viés de gênero no jornalismo cultural, o que evidencia a necessidade de maior conscientização e mudanças estruturais nas práticas de representação na mídia.

Palavras-chave:
arte; género; mulheres; imprensa; visibilidade

Resumen:

Este estudio investiga la visibilidad de las creadoras españolas contemporáneas en las secciones culturales de dos de los principales periódicos españoles durante el siglo XXI. Mediante una metodología en dos fases, la investigación combina un inventario cuantitativo de contenidos con un análisis léxico cualitativo para realizar una observación longitudinal de la representación de género en la prensa. Los resultados revelan una infrarrepresentación de las creadoras, que aparecen en solo el 3% de los artículos centrados en artistas españoles del siglo XXI, frente al 11% dedicado a sus homólogos masculinos. El análisis léxico muestra que el vocabulario asociado a los hombres se centra en su obra, mientras que los artículos sobre mujeres enfatizan aspectos personales. Se observa un sesgo de género en el periodismo cultural y se llama a una mayor conciencia y a cambios estructurales en las prácticas de representación mediática.

Palabras clave:
arte; género; mujer; prensa; visibilidad

Introduction

The importance of studying women’s visibility arises from the understanding that the media shape public opinion. Numerous studies have shown that gender dynamics within media institutions not only influence content production but also reflect broader structural inequalities (De-Miguel et al., 2017; Unda-Endemaño et al., 2023). It is within the media that the population gathers information, forming their beliefs, tastes, preferences, and opinions, and taking positions either in favour or against certain matters (Eva Aladro et al., 2014). For a long time, women have been invisible and excluded from various public spheres. In this regard, studies across different fields of knowledge began in the second half of the 20th century, and in the 1970s, the category of gender analysis was introduced as a means of interpreting reality (Aladro et al., 2014).

The work towards gender equality is not new. However, feminist scholarship has long emphasized that institutional progress often overlooks deeper structural factors that shape gender disparities, particularly in how public and private spheres are socially constructed (Susan Okin; Flávia Biroli, 2008). For over five decades, the United Nations (UN) has been striving for equal rights for men and women. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNITED NATIONS, 1947) makes clear that the UN has been working throughout the decades to eliminate distinctions between men and women. For instance, in 1979, during a UN assembly, the distinction between the sexes was removed, and equal treatment was established (UNITED NATIONS, 1979). Progress and debates regarding gender equality rights continue, such as the fight for equality in the workplace, in leadership positions, and in politics, among other areas.

Although debates and actions towards a more egalitarian society have been underway for several decades, it was in 1995, during the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing (UNITED NATIONS, 1995), that 12 areas of concern hindering gender equality were identified. One of these areas is the insufficient mobilization of the media to promote women’s contributions to society.

We observe the invisibility of women in the public sphere, as argued by Óscar Sánchez-Alonso, Nuria Quintana-Paz, and Juan F. Plaza (2010). Currently, women are not excluded, hindered, or prevented from participating in public spaces. However, it is evident that even without these obstacles, women do not enjoy the same level of prominence and visibility. In this regard, the media plays a crucial role.

The narratives constructed in history books often rely on references to male artists. This bias is also evident in literary journalism, where the presence of women writers remains significantly lower than that of men, even in specialized cultural supplements (Manuel García-Borrego; Bernardo Gómez-Calderón; Juan García-Cardona, 2022). In addition to the absence of women in museum and institutional exhibitions, we must remember that the museographic space emerged in the 19th century (María Teresa Cuesta-de-la-Cal, 2020). At that time, women did not participate in these spaces, and artworks by men were predominantly showcased. This fact leads us to consider that there is a discrepancy between practice and social debates regarding gender equality in the past 50 years.

The text Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? (Linda Nochlin; Mela Dávila, 2022), published in 1971, was one of the first texts to address the situation of women in the art world. At that time, the author questioned whether there was a significant number of hidden women artists and focused on institutions and education predominantly shaped by white, upper-class men. These men established standards and imposed their view of reality on society. These standards excluded women, people from different races and social classes, and a diverse range of talented individuals who stood out. They remained hidden because they did not fit into the established pattern within a predefined patriarchal model.

If we examine the Spanish context of women creators, we can see that in the 1970s, there were more women enrolled in Fine Arts and Art History courses than men, a fact that contrasts with the reality of the artworks in the collection of the Reina Sofia Museum, which are predominantly by male artists (Marián López-Fernández-Cao, 2013). López-Fdz.-Cao (2013) comments that many Spanish women artists gained recognition and acceptance through foreign critics before receiving recognition in Spain.

The Association of Women in Visual Arts (MAV) highlights the shortcomings of the Spanish art system in addressing gender issues (Nekane Aramburu; Rocío de la Villa; Piedad Soláns, 2012). This association operates between public administrations and cultural institutions, advocating for the enforcement of laws to ensure gender equality. MAV was founded in 2009 as a response to the discontent of Spanish women artists regarding the unequal treatment they received.

The four forums organized by MAV, created to analyse, debate, and discuss, serve as a good indicator of the evolution of visibility issues for female artists and the situation of women in the art system. In 2015, a set of actions was established to increase the visibility of gender inequality and to propose good practices (MAV, 2015). In 2017, the focus was on fostering collaboration networks, increasing the presence of women in leadership positions, and implementing actions to reduce the inequality gap (MAV, 2017). In 2019, the actions taken by MAV over the past ten years were analysed, revealing that despite many efforts by women, they remain invisible. Although new museums are moving in the right direction towards greater gender equality, statistics indicate that there is still work to be done. They cite the case of the ABC Museum, where out of 250 exhibited works, only nine were created by women (MAV, 2019). In 2021, gender equality in museums remained rare, prompting the establishment of a strategic plan for museums aimed at reducing inequality across museum management and collections (MAV, 2021). “We cannot be excluded from history again; we are all here with the same purpose: to make women artists visible in this complex contemporary world we live in” (María José Aranzasti, cited in MAV, 2019, p. 16).

Following this statement, supported by the previous evidence, we are prepared to outline the objectives of our research.

Objectives

This study aims to increase visibility for women creators in 21st-century Spain. As a contribution to this objective, the analysis of the visibility of women creators in various types of publications is proposed. The focus of this article is their presence in the press, a widely accessible medium for most of the population, and generally read by a non-specialized audience.

This is an initial approach using a partial sample, serving as a testing phase to expand the study in the future. For this reason, we have established a series of objectives to begin establishing the social context of women creators’ presence in the media, as discussed in the introduction. From this perspective, our objectives are as follows:

• Evaluate the presence of women creators in 21st-century Spain in the Spanish press.

• Analyse the language used in news articles discussing Spanish women creators, comparing it to the terms used for male Spanish creators.

Methodology

This study compiles cultural news articles from two prominent Spanish newspapers, El País and El Mundo, which were selected because they are the most widely read daily newspapers according to Comscore and various studies (LIBRETILLA, 2021; Abigail Orús, 2022), excluding sports newspapers.

As stated in the objectives, the study consists of two phases. Firstly, there is a quantitative identification of the presence of women creators in 21st-century Spain. Secondly, there is a qualitative analysis of the content of news articles that discuss women creators.

For this initial approach to analysing the presence of Spanish women creators in the press in the 21st century, a limited sample was used, following the parameters outlined below:

• News articles from the culture section of the national editions of both newspapers, excluding Sunday editions or associated magazines.

• News articles from four weeks per year, specifically the months of March, July, September, and December.

• The selection of years is based on an initial approximation spanning the 21st century.

While the sample is intentionally limited, it is strategically designed to ensure temporal diversity and capture representative patterns in cultural journalism. By selecting four non-consecutive weeks per year across two decades (2000-2020), the study includes both high and low-publishing seasons, including festive and routine periods. This approach enables a longitudinal perspective while maintaining feasibility for detailed content and lexical analysis. The selection of El País and El Mundo-the most widely read general newspapers in Spain-ensures the sample’s relevance and generalizability to national media discourse. Although not exhaustive, the sampling strategy provides a valid snapshot of gender dynamics in cultural reporting and supports cautious extrapolation to broader media practices.

Table 1
Sample of years and weeks.

Year	March	July	September	December
2000	13 - 19	10 - 16	18 - 24	25 - 31
2005	14 - 20	11 - 17	19 - 25	19 - 25
2010	15 - 21	12 - 18	20 - 26	20 - 26
2015	9 - 15	13 - 19	21 - 27	21 - 27
2020	9 - 15	13 - 19	21 - 27	21 - 27

• Source: Authors.
• #SoEveryoneCanSee The table below presents the sample of years and weeks used for data collection. It has five columns and six rows. The first column lists the selected years used for the initial approximation. These years are 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. The top row lists the selected months. These months are March, July, September, and December. For each year and each month, the table shows a range of weeks. Each range runs from Monday to Sunday and represents the middle week of that month. The exact date ranges are as follows. For the year 2000: March: from the 13th to the 19th, July: from the 10th to the 16th, September: from the 18th to the 24th, December: from the 25th to the 31st. For the year 2005: March: from the 14th to the 20th, July: from the 11th to the 17th, September: from the 19th to the 25th, December: from the 19th to the 25th. For the year 2010: March: from the 15th to the 21st., July: from the 12th to the 18th, September: from the 20th to the 26th, December: from the 20th to the 26th, For the year 2015: March: from the 9th to the 15th, July: from the 13th to the 19th, September: from the 21st to the 27th, December: from the 21st to the 27th. For the year 2020: March: from the 9th to the 15th, July: from the 13th to the 19th, September: from the 21st to the 27th, December: from the 21st to the 27th.

Following the method outlined by Laura Fernández-Ramírez and Nadia McGowan (2020), these weeks were selected to represent each year. The December and July weeks provide information on the Christmas and summer periods, respectively, while the March and September weeks represent the regular publication cycle of a newspaper. The selected weeks, from Monday to Sunday, are positioned in the central zone of each month.

For the first phase, the MyNews¹ application is used, which allows us to select and filter by newspaper, date/period, section, and features, and to review all publications that meet the necessary parameters, including those from previous years.

These news articles are classified according to the following terms:

1. Total number of culture articles: all culture articles from that week. For El País, we can filter in MyNews using “Cultura CU”. In El Mundo, we need to select “cultura” and deselect “cultura espectáculos” (entertainment), “televisión” (television), and “toros” (bullfighting), as they do not belong to the culture section but constitute separate sections.

2. Number of articles about 21st-century creators: from the previous count, we select those that discuss Spanish creators of the 21st century, regardless of gender. All arts, including performing arts (music, theatre, dance, etc.), and literature have been taken into account.

3. Number of articles about Spanish creators (men): from the total in b), we select the articles that only discuss male authors.

4. Number of articles about Spanish creators (women): from the total in b), we select the articles that discuss only female authors.

5. Number of mixed articles: from the total in b), we select the articles that discuss mixed collectives or mention both male and female authors in the same news article.

This analysis aims to determine whether the presence of women creators in the Spanish daily press is significant relative to the total number of news articles and compared with news articles about male creators.

The second phase of the research is conducted using the qualitative analysis software ATLAS.ti, which enables us to analyse the content of the articles by coding the most prominent concepts.

The working sample for this phase consists of two documents. One document includes all the content from the articles selected for column c) in the previous list (articles about male creators), and the other document includes all the articles selected for column d). In this way, we will analyse the lexicon used in news articles about male creators and about female creators, and subsequently establish a relationship between the two.

Each news article is marked as a quotation in the software, resulting in 281 quotations in the document for Men and 68 for Women. The initial coding process involves identifying the most repeated concepts in the analysed content, resulting in a list of codes established as follows:

• Codes derived from the conceptualization of articles about male creators.

• Codes derived from the conceptualization of articles about female creators.

• Codes that appear in both lists.

Additionally, to the list of concepts, we add some that the software generalizes towards the male form: ‘autora’ (author), ‘directora’ (director), and ‘música’ (musician). We also include some concepts that arise from the lack of female reference: ‘arquitecta’ (architect), ‘diseñadora’ (designer), ‘escritora’ (writer), and ‘profesora’ (professor).

Results and discussion

Although gender inequality in the arts has been widely studied, this article provides a specific empirical approach to the media representation of contemporary Spanish female creators in mainstream press outlets. Unlike studies focused on art institutions or historical analyses, this research examines how the media-as cultural legitimizing agents-reproduce and reinforce patterns of invisibility. By employing a mixed-methods approach and a broad temporal scope, the study offers both quantitative and qualitative data that reveal persistent trends. While focused on the Spanish context, the findings are relevant to broader international discussions, as many cultural systems continue to privilege androcentric narratives in their artistic and journalistic canons. This work can serve as a foundation for comparative studies and inform cultural policy efforts aimed at achieving greater equity in the symbolic representation of women in the arts.

The results of the first phase of quantitative analysis of the presence of women creators in the Spanish press can be observed below.

Table 2
Results of the quantitative article count.

Year	Newspaper	No. Articles Culture Section	Nº Art. Spanish creators 21st century	%	Men	%	Women	%	Mixed	%
2000	El País	178	38	21%	28	16%	3	2%	7	4%
2000	El Mundo	336	103	31%	65	19%	11	3%	26	8%
2005	El País	185	30	16%	18	10%	5	3%	7	4%
2005	El Mundo	279	81	29%	49	18%	10	4%	22	8%
2010	El País	226	32	14%	27	12%	2	1%	3	1%
2010	El Mundo	423	53	13%	30	7%	20	5%	3	1%
2015	El País	239	24	10%	17	7%	7	3%	0	0%
2015	El Mundo	180	8	4%	7	4%	1	1%	0	0%
2020	El País	252	31	12%	24	10%	6	2%	1	0%
2020	El Mundo	180	22	12%	16	9%	3	2%	3	2%
	El País	1080	155	14%	114	11%	23	2%	18	2%
	El Mundo	1398	267	19%	167	12%	45	3%	54	4%
	Totals	2478	422	17%	281	11%	68	3%	72	3%

• Source: Authors.
• #SoEveryoneCanSee The table presents data on cultural articles published in two Spanish newspapers, El País and El Mundo, across selected years. It shows the total number of articles in the culture section, the number and percentage of articles about Spanish creators of the twenty-first century, and a breakdown of those articles by gender: men, women, and mixed authorship. Each row corresponds to one newspaper in one year. The columns includes: year, newspaper name, total number of culture section articles, number and percentage of articles about Spanish creators of the twenty-first century, and the number and percentage of those articles written by men, by women, or by mixed groups. For the year 2000: El País: There are 178 culture section articles. Of these, 38 articles, or 21 percent, are about Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Twenty-eight articles, or 16 percent, focus on men. Three articles, or 2 percent, focus on women. Seven articles, or 4 percent, are mixed. El Mundo: There are 336 culture section articles. Of these, 103 articles, or 31 percent, are about Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Sixty-five articles, or 19 percent, focus on men. Eleven articles, or 3 percent, focus on women. Twenty-six articles, or 8 percent, are mixed. For the year 2005: El País: There are 185 culture section articles. Thirty articles, or 16 percent, are about Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Eighteen articles, or 10 percent, focus on men. Five articles, or 3 percent, focus on women. Seven articles, or 4 percent, are mixed. El Mundo: There are 279 culture section articles. Eighty-one articles, or 29 percent, are about Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Forty-nine articles, or 18 percent, focus on men. Ten articles, or 4 percent, focus on women. Twenty-two articles, or 8 percent, are mixed. For the year 2010: El País: There are 226 culture section articles. Thirty-two articles, or 14 percent, are about Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Twenty-seven articles, or 12 percent, focus on men. Two articles, or 1 percent, focus on women. Three articles, or 1 percent, are mixed. El Mundo: There are 423 culture section articles. Fifty-three articles, or 13 percent, are about Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Thirty articles, or 7 percent, focus on men. Twenty articles, or 5 percent, focus on women. Three articles, or 1 percent, are mixed. For the year 2015: El País: There are 239 culture section articles. Twenty-four articles, or 10 percent, are about Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Seventeen articles, or 7 percent, focus on men. Seven articles, or 3 percent, focus on women. There are no mixed articles. El Mundo: There are 180 culture section articles. Eight articles, or 4 percent, are about Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Seven articles, or 4 percent, focus on men. One article, or 1 percent, focuses on women. There are no mixed articles. For the year 2020: El País: There are 252 culture section articles. Thirty-one articles, or 12 percent, are about Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Twenty-four articles, or 10 percent, focus on men. Six articles, or 2 percent, focus on women. One article, or less than 1 percent, is mixed. El Mundo: There are 180 culture section articles. Twenty-two articles, or 12 percent, are about Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Sixteen articles, or 9 percent, focus on men. Three articles, or 2 percent, focus on women. Three articles, or 2 percent, are mixed. Totals across all years: El País: A total of 1,080 culture section articles. One hundred fifty-five articles, or 14 percent, are about Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. One hundred fourteen articles, or 11 percent, focus on men. Twenty-three articles, or 2 percent, focus on women. Eighteen articles, or 2 percent, are mixed. El Mundo: A total of 1,398 culture section articles. Two hundred sixty-seven articles, or 19 percent, are about Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. One hundred sixty-seven articles, or 12 percent, focus on men. Forty-five articles, or 3 percent, focus on women. Fifty-four articles, or 4 percent, are mixed. Overall totals: Across both newspapers, there are 2,478 culture section articles. Four hundred twenty-two articles, or 17 percent, are about Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Two hundred eighty-one articles, or 11 percent, focus on men. Sixty-eight articles, or 3 percent, focus on women. Seventy-two articles, or 3 percent, are mixed.

Graphic 1
Article categories in the culture sections of the newspapers in the weeks studied

The figure consists of two graphs that show the distribution of cultural articles by authorship category: men, women, mixed authorship, and the rest. On the left, there is a pie chart showing percentages. On the right, there is a bar chart showing absolute numbers. Both graphs represent the same data.

In the full data table, which has not been included in the article due to its length, significant weeks due to the absence of artistic creation have been identified. The selected week in July 2005 in El Mundo does not have any culture news because it only includes the Bullfighting section. Several weeks show a drastic reduction in culture articles and an almost non-existent presence of Spanish creators (Table 3).

Table 3
Results for weeks with exceptionally low article counts.

Year	Month	Week	Newspaper	No. Articles Culture Section	Nº Art. Spanish creators 21st century	Men	Women	Mixed
2000	December	25 - 31	El País	23	2	2	0	0
2005	December	19 - 25	El País	29	4	3	0	1
2005	July	11 - 17	El Mundo	0	0	0	0	0
2010	July	12 - 18	El País	25	1	1	0	0
2015	July	13 - 19	El País	31	1	1	0	0
2015	July	13 - 19	El Mundo	5	0	0	0	0
2015	December	21 - 27	El Mundo	6	0	0	0	0
2020	July	13 - 19	El Mundo	37	4	2	2	0
2020	September	21 - 27	El Mundo	37	3	3	0	0
2020	December	21 - 27	El Mundo	31	4	2	0	2

• Source: Authors.
• #SoEveryoneCanSee The table contains nine columns: year, month, week, newspaper, the total number of culture articles, the number of articles by 21st-century Spanish creators, and the last three columns are men, women, and mixed. In the ten rows following the categories, we can see the data for the weeks with the fewest articles. Each row corresponds to one newspaper during one specific week. For the year 2000, in December, during the week from the 25th to the 31st: Newspaper: El País. There are 23 culture section articles. Two articles focus on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Both of these articles focus on men. There are no articles focusing on women or mixed authorship. For the year 2005, in December, during the week from the 19th to the 25th: Newspaper: El País. There are 29 culture section articles. Four articles focus on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Three articles focus on men. There are no articles focusing on women. One article has mixed authorship. For the year 2005, in July, during the week from the 11th to the 17th: Newspaper: El Mundo. There are no culture section articles. Consequently, there are no articles focusing on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century, and none by men, women, or mixed authorship. For the year 2010, in July, during the week from the 12th to the 18th: Newspaper: El País. There are 25 culture section articles. One article focuses on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. This article focuses on a man. There are no articles focusing on women or mixed authorship. For the year 2015, in July, during the week from the 13th to the 19th: Newspaper: El País. There are 31 culture section articles. One article focuses on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. This article focuses on a man. There are no articles focusing on women or mixed authorship. For the year 2015, in July, during the week from the 13th to the 19th: Newspaper: El Mundo. There are 5 culture section articles. None of the articles focus on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. For the year 2015, in December, during the week from the 21st to the 27th: Newspaper: El Mundo. There are 6 culture section articles. None of the articles focus on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. For the year 2020, in July, during the week from the 13th to the 19th: Newspaper: El Mundo. There are 37 culture section articles. Four articles focus on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Two articles focus on men. Two articles focus on women. There are no mixed-authorship articles. For the year 2020, in September, during the week from the 21st to the 27th: Newspaper: El Mundo. There are 37 culture section articles. Three articles focus on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. All three articles focus on men. There are no articles focusing on women or mixed authorship. For the year 2020, in December, during the week from the 21st to the 27th: Newspaper: El Mundo. There are 31 culture section articles. Four articles focus on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Two articles focus on men. There are no articles focusing on women. Two articles have mixed authorship.

In Table 3, the cases with the lowest article counts in the study are presented. The average number of culture articles is 62, as derived from the complete table, and the table shows a notably low count. Of particular significance is the extremely low or non-existent count of articles focused on Spanish creators.

Overall, in 2020, the culture section was profoundly affected by the global pandemic and became a prominent news topic due to the limitations imposed on diverse cultural sectors.

The final table analysed in this results analysis shows the weeks in which women’s presence is absent.

Table 4
Negative results in the count of women creators.

Year	Month	Week	Newspaper	No. Articles Culture Section	Nº Art. Spanish creators 21st century	Men	Women	Mixed
2000	March	13 - 19	El País	52	12	9	0	3
2000	September	18 - 24	El País	60	17	15	0	2
2000	December	25 - 31	El País	23	2	2	0	0
2005	March	14 - 20	El Mundo	92	26	19	0	7
2005	July	11 - 17	El Mundo	0	0	0	0	0
2005	December	19 - 25	El País	29	4	3	0	1
2010	July	12 - 18	El País	25	1	1	0	0
2010	September	20 - 26	El País	63	14	12	0	2
2015	July	13 - 19	El País	31	1	1	0	0
2015	July	13 - 19	El Mundo	5	0	0	0	0
2015	September	21 - 27	El Mundo	83	6	6	0	0
2015	December	21 - 27	El Mundo	6	0	0	0	0
2020	September	21 - 27	El Mundo	37	3	3	0	0
2020	December	21 - 27	El País	51	2	1	0	1
2020	December	21 - 27	El Mundo	31	4	2	0	2

• Source: Authors.
• #SoEveryoneCanSee The table presents data for selected weeks used in the analysis. For each entry, it includes the year, month, specific week range from Monday to Sunday, the newspaper, the total number of culture section articles published that week, and the number of articles focusing on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. These articles are further broken down by men, women, and mixed authorship. Each item below corresponds to one newspaper during one specific week. For the year 2000, in March, during the week from the 13th to the 19th: Newspaper: El País. There are 52 culture section articles. Twelve articles focus on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Nine of these articles focus on men. There are no articles focusing on women. Three articles have mixed authorship. For the year 2000, in September, during the week from the 18th to the 24th: Newspaper: El País. There are 60 culture section articles. Seventeen articles focus on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Fifteen articles focus on men. There are no articles focusing on women. Two articles have mixed authorship. For the year 2000, in December, during the week from the 25th to the 31st: Newspaper: El País. There are 23 culture section articles. Two articles focus on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Both articles focus on men. There are no articles focusing on women or mixed authorship. For the year 2005, in March, during the week from the 14th to the 20th: Newspaper: El Mundo. There are 92 culture section articles. Twenty-six articles focus on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Nineteen articles focus on men. There are no articles focusing on women. Seven articles have mixed authorship. For the year 2005, in July, during the week from the 11th to the 17th: Newspaper: El Mundo. There are no culture section articles. Consequently, there are no articles focusing on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. For the year 2005, in December, during the week from the 19th to the 25th: Newspaper: El País. There are 29 culture section articles. Four articles focus on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Three articles focus on men. There are no articles focusing on women. One article has mixed authorship. For the year 2010, in July, during the week from the 12th to the 18th: Newspaper: El País. There are 25 culture section articles. One article focuses on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. This article focuses on a man. There are no articles focusing on women or mixed authorship. For the year 2010, in September, during the week from the 20th to the 26th: Newspaper: El País. There are 63 culture section articles. Fourteen articles focus on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Twelve articles focus on men. There are no articles focusing on women. Two articles have mixed authorship. For the year 2015, in July, during the week from the 13th to the 19th: Newspaper: El País. There are 31 culture section articles. One article focuses on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. This article focuses on a man. There are no articles focusing on women or mixed authorship. For the year 2015, in July, during the week from the 13th to the 19th: Newspaper: El Mundo. There are 5 culture section articles. None of the articles focus on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. For the year 2015, in September, during the week from the 21st to the 27th: Newspaper: El Mundo. There are 83 culture section articles. Six articles focus on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. All six articles focus on men. There are no articles focusing on women or mixed authorship. For the year 2015, in December, during the week from the 21st to the 27th: Newspaper: El Mundo. There are 6 culture section articles. None of the articles focus on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. For the year 2020, in September, during the week from the 21st to the 27th: Newspaper: El Mundo. There are 37 culture section articles. Three articles focus on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. All three articles focus on men. There are no articles focusing on women or mixed authorship. For the year 2020, in December, during the week from the 21st to the 27th: Newspaper: El País. There are 51 culture section articles. Two articles focus on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. One article focuses on a man. There are no articles focusing on women. One article has mixed authorship. For the year 2020, in December, during the week from the 21st to the 27th: Newspaper: El Mundo. There are 31 culture section articles. Four articles focus on Spanish creators of the twenty-first century. Two articles focus on men. There are no articles focusing on women. Two articles have mixed authorship.

In Table 4, we observe 15 weeks in which the count of articles discussing Spanish women creators is zero, despite the overall count of creators not being significantly low in many cases. As the mixed category also includes women mentioned within collectives or in articles shared with male creators, there are eight weeks in which no women are mentioned at all, accounting for 20% of the analysed weeks (40) and 37.5% of the weeks in which women are not mentioned individually. In contrast, there are only three weeks (7.5%) in which the count of articles about male creators is zero, with zero counts for both women and mixed categories, indicating that the absence of women creators is more pronounced than that of male creators. Overall, the presence of creators in the culture section of the press is relatively low, suggesting the relative importance given to art in these publications.

Regarding the qualitative analysis of the lexicon used in the analysed articles, we present the concept clouds generated in ATLAS.ti as a first step.

Figure 1
Word cloud of concepts related to articles about male creators in the 21st century

In Figure 1, we observe a word cloud generated from the conceptualization of 281 news articles (ATLAS.ti citations) about male creators, aimed at extracting the most frequently repeated concepts. The word “vida” (life) appears in the first position, followed by three concepts directly associated with the creative field: “obra” (work), “director” (director), and “autor” (author). In general, we can see prominent concepts related to the artistic position of the creator, such as “libro” (book), “película” (film), “escritor” (writer), “músico” (musician), “novela” (novel), “canción” (song), among others.

The word cloud does not consider the citation creation process established in the ATLAS.ti software; instead, it provides a general count of how often these words appear overall. Therefore, a more comprehensive and specific analysis is presented in Table 5, which includes the results of coding articles about male creators.

Table 5
Results of conceptualizing the articles of male creators in ATLAS.ti (Gr: number or quotes or documents per code. (H) Concepts identified as related to men (hombre)).

Code	Gr	%	Code	Gr	%
vida	124	44%	mujer	44	16%
obra	108	38%	canción (H)	42	15%
director	107	38%	carrera (H)	42	15%
autor	101	36%	padre	42	15%
historia	98	35%	problema (H)	40	14%
libro	93	33%	protagonista	40	14%
personaje	75	27%	amigo (H)	39	14%
película	70	25%	idea (H)	39	14%
escritor	69	25%	disco (H)	38	14%
trabajo	66	23%	teatro	38	14%
texto	64	23%	muerte	37	13%
novela	60	21%	familia	36	13%
cine	58	21%	hijos	36	13%
premio	58	21%	periodista (H)	35	12%
hombre	57	20%	tema (H)	35	12%
artista	55	20%	exposición	34	12%
título (H)	53	19%	papel	34	12%
escena (H)	50	18%	espectáculo	31	11%
cultura	49	17%	músico	28	10%
imagen	48	17%	guerra	27	10%
arte	45	16%	poeta (H)	27	10%
público	45	16%	poesía (H)	21	7%
actor (H)	44	16%	arquitecto (H)	19	7%
escenario	44	16%	ópera (H)	18	6%
festival (H)	44	16%	verdad	10	4%
			cuento	5	2%

• Source: Authors, based on data from ATLAS.ti.
• #SoEveryoneCanSee The table presents, in six columns, the results of analysing the most frequently recurring concepts in the articles of male creators. The categories in the first row are: code, Gr: number or quotes or documents per code, and percentage of the previous column with respect to the total, which is repeated in columns four to six. The codes are numbered from one to fifty-one. Code “vida”: 124 occurrences, 44 percent. Code “obra”: 108 occurrences, 38 percent. Code “director”: 107 occurrences, 38 percent. Code “autor”: 101 occurrences, 36 percent. Code “historia”: 98 occurrences, 35 percent. Code “libro”: 93 occurrences, 33 percent. Code “personaje”: 75 occurrences, 27 percent. Code “película”: 70 occurrences, 25 percent. Code “escritor”: 69 occurrences, 25 percent. Code “trabajo”: 66 occurrences, 23 percent. Code “texto”: 64 occurrences, 23 percent. Code “novela”: 60 occurrences, 21 percent. Code “cine”: 58 occurrences, 21 percent. Code “premio”: 58 occurrences, 21 percent. Code “hombre”: 57 occurrences, 20 percent. Code “artista”: 55 occurrences, 20 percent. Code “título”, related to men: 53 occurrences, 19 percent. Code “escena”, related to men: 50 occurrences, 18 percent. Code “cultura”: 49 occurrences, 17 percent. Code “imagen”: 48 occurrences, 17 percent. Code “arte”: 45 occurrences, 16 percent. Code “público”: 45 occurrences, 16 percent. Code “actor”, related to men: 44 occurrences, 16 percent. Code “escenario”: 44 occurrences, 16 percent. Code “festival”, related to men: 44 occurrences, 16 percent. Code “mujer”: 44 occurrences, 16 percent. Code “canción”, related to men: 42 occurrences, 15 percent. Code “carrera”, related to men: 42 occurrences, 15 percent. Code “padre”: 42 occurrences, 15 percent. Code “problema”, related to men: 40 occurrences, 14 percent. Code “protagonista”: 40 occurrences, 14 percent. Code “amigo”, related to men: 39 occurrences, 14 percent. Code “idea”, related to men: 39 occurrences, 14 percent. Code “disco”, related to men: 38 occurrences, 14 percent. Code “teatro”: 38 occurrences, 14 percent. Code “muerte”: 37 occurrences, 13 percent. Code “familia”: 36 occurrences, 13 percent. Code “hijos”: 36 occurrences, 13 percent. Code “periodista”, related to men: 35 occurrences, 12 percent. Code “tema”, related to men: 35 occurrences, 12 percent. Code “exposición”: 34 occurrences, 12 percent. Code “papel”: 34 occurrences, 12 percent. Code “espectáculo”: 31 occurrences, 11 percent. Code “músico”: 28 occurrences, 10 percent. Code “guerra”: 27 occurrences, 10 percent. Code “poeta”, related to men: 27 occurrences, 10 percent. Code “poesía”, related to men: 21 occurrences, 7 percent. Code “arquitecto”, related to men: 19 occurrences, 7 percent. Code “ópera”, related to men: 18 occurrences, 6 percent. Code “verdad”: 10 occurrences, 4 percent. Code “cuento”: 5 occurrences, 2 percent. The following concepts are highlighted in bold and marked (H) (Concepts identified as related to men): “título” (title), “escena” (scene), “actor” (actor), “festival” (festival), “canción” (song), “carrera” (career), “problema” (problem), “amigo” (friend), “idea” (idea), “disco” (album), “periodista” (journalist), “tema” (theme), “poeta” (poet), “poesía” (poetry), “arquitecto” (architect) and “ópera” (opera).

In Table 5, we present a comprehensive list of concepts assigned by the program to articles about male creators, based on the selected quotations. We have enumerated these concepts to discuss their significance in terms of their occurrence in these articles. In a preliminary analysis, we continue to align with the perception obtained from the word cloud. Despite “life” being the most frequently mentioned concept, appearing in 144 out of 281 articles (44% of the total), we note that in the top portion of the list, specifically the 25 most frequently appearing codes, all terms have a direct association with creation and the creator’s position in relation to their work.

We highlight in bold, with the (H) mark, the concepts that appear in the list for men but not in the list for women. Although the program identifies them as prominent concepts in the text about men, this does not imply that they were not coded when analysing women. However, this does indicate a tendency towards a male figure as a creator, which differs somewhat from the female one. It is also worth noting that the concept of “problem” appears associated with men, although it also appears in the coding of women at 14%, even though it does not appear in their word cloud.

Figure 2
Word cloud of concepts related to articles about female creators in the 21st century

Here we see the word cloud of articles about women creators. The concept that stands out the most is “mujer” (woman), which we will explore further and ranks third, compared to “hombre” (man) at fifteenth in Table 5. The following most prominent concepts are “vida” (life), “personaje” (character), “novela” (novel), and “historia” (history). However, we also find clearly male-oriented concepts such as “autor” (author), “escritor” (writer), or “director” (director) in their male form. When coding the quotations, we have also worked with the feminine version of these concepts, as the program tends to generalize towards the masculine form or action, as we saw in the previous word cloud with terms like “novelar” (to novelize) or “librar” (to free).

To provide a more specific analysis of the codes in the female list, we present a summary of the data in Table 6. To balance the comparison, we establish the appearance percentages relative to the total number of quotations. We also include the normalization performed by the program, which allows us to make a fair comparison between the 281 articles on men and the 68 on women. ATLAS.ti normalizes the documents by equating their coding densities and working with relative frequencies.

Table 6
results after conceptualizing the articles of women creators in ATLAS.ti (Gr: number or quotes or documents per code. (M) Concepts identified as related to women (mujer)).

Code	Gr	%	Code	Gr	%
vida	121	43%	protagonista	43	15%
obra	109	39%	familia	43	15%
mujer	94	33%	pieza (M)	43	15%
libro	78	28%	cine	39	14%
personaje	74	26%	exposición	39	14%
historia	62	22%	escritor	35	12%
trabajo	62	22%	texto	35	12%
novela	62	22%	padre	35	12%
público	62	22%	cantante (M)	35	12%
escenario	62	22%	miedo (M)	35	12%
teatro	62	22%	colección (M)	35	12%
hijos	62	22%	actriz (M)	35	12%
autor	58	21%	película	31	11%
premio	58	21%	amor	31	11%
artista	55	20%	espectáculo	23	8%
cultura	55	20%	dolor (M)	23	8%
literatura (M)	55	20%	moda (M)	23	8%
hombre	51	18%	verdad	23	8%
muerte	51	18%	guerra	19	7%
papel	51	18%	cuerpo (M)	19	7%
imagen	47	17%	soledad (M)	19	7%
arte	47	17%	diseñador (M)	16	6%
memoria (M)	47	17%	iglesia (M)	12	4%
madre (M)	47	17%	profesor (M)	12	4%
vestido (M)	47	17%	cuento	12	4%
director	43	15%	músico	8	3%

• Source: Authors, based on data from ATLAS.ti.
• #SoEveryoneCanSee The table has the same structure as the one above (Table 5). The codes are numbered from one to fifty-two. Code “vida”: 121 occurrences, 43 percent. Code “obra”: 109 occurrences, 39 percent. Code “mujer”: 94 occurrences, 33 percent. Code “libro”: 78 occurrences, 28 percent. Code “personaje”: 74 occurrences, 26 percent. Code “historia”: 62 occurrences, 22 percent. Code “trabajo”: 62 occurrences, 22 percent. Code “novela”: 62 occurrences, 22 percent. Code “público”: 62 occurrences, 22 percent. Code “escenario”: 62 occurrences, 22 percent. Code “teatro”: 62 occurrences, 22 percent. Code “hijos”: 62 occurrences, 22 percent. Code “autor”: 58 occurrences, 21 percent. Code “premio”: 58 occurrences, 21 percent. Code “artista”: 55 occurrences, 20 percent. Code “cultura”: 55 occurrences, 20 percent. Code “literatura”, related to women: 55 occurrences, 20 percent. Code “hombre”: 51 occurrences, 18 percent. Code “muerte”: 51 occurrences, 18 percent. Code “papel”: 51 occurrences, 18 percent. Code “imagen”: 47 occurrences, 17 percent. Code “arte”: 47 occurrences, 17 percent. Code “memoria”, related to women: 47 occurrences, 17 percent. Code “madre”, related to women: 47 occurrences, 17 percent. Code “vestido”, related to women: 47 occurrences, 17 percent. Code “director”: 43 occurrences, 15 percent. Code “protagonista”: 43 occurrences, 15 percent. Code “familia”: 43 occurrences, 15 percent. Code “pieza”, related to women: 43 occurrences, 15 percent. Code “cine”: 39 occurrences, 14 percent. Code “exposición”: 39 occurrences, 14 percent. Code “escritor”: 35 occurrences, 12 percent. Code “texto”: 35 occurrences, 12 percent. Code “padre”: 35 occurrences, 12 percent. Code “cantante”, related to women: 35 occurrences, 12 percent. Code “miedo”, related to women: 35 occurrences, 12 percent. Code “colección”, related to women: 35 occurrences, 12 percent. Code “actriz”, related to women: 35 occurrences, 12 percent. Code “película”: 31 occurrences, 11 percent. Code “amor”: 31 occurrences, 11 percent. Code “espectáculo”: 23 occurrences, 8 percent. Code “dolor”, related to women: 23 occurrences, 8 percent. Code “moda”, related to women: 23 occurrences, 8 percent. Code “verdad”: 23 occurrences, 8 percent. Code “guerra”: 19 occurrences, 7 percent. Code “cuerpo”, related to women: 19 occurrences, 7 percent. Code “soledad”, related to women: 19 occurrences, 7 percent. Code “diseñador”, related to women: 16 occurrences, 6 percent. Code “iglesia”, related to women: 12 occurrences, 4 percent. Code “profesor”, related to women: 12 occurrences, 4 percent. Code “cuento”: 12 occurrences, 4 percent. Code “músico”: 8 occurrences, 3 percent. We highlight in bold and marked with (F) the concepts that appear in the female word cloud but not in the male word cloud: “literature” (literature), “memoria” (memory), “madre” (mother), “vestido” (dress), “pieza” (piece), “cantante” (singer), “miedo” (fear), “colección” (collection), “actriz” (actress), “dolor” (pain), “moda” (fashion), “cuerpo” (body), “soledad” (loneliness), “diseñador” (designer), “iglesia” (church), and “professor” (teacher).

Table 6 shows the equivalent of Table 5 with the results of coding the female news items under the initial concepts of the word cloud. As mentioned, these results have been normalized to align with the male results and enable comparison. The use of percentages will assist in this task. Regarding the vocabulary related to women, we observe that it is not until the concept “autor” (author) in the 13th position appears that anything related to the idea of women creators can be found, despite the articles discussing them. We see “artista” (artist) in the 15th position, and concepts associated with female creators appear in the second part of the table (positions starting from 27) and are always in the masculine form: “escritor” (writer), “diseñador” (designer), “professor” (teacher). The first feminine concept, except for the generic term “artista” (artist), is “actriz” (actress) in the 38th position.

We highlight in bold and mark with (M) the concepts that appear in the female word cloud but not in the male word cloud. From these concepts, we can extract some insights into how women are portrayed in the press. The relationship with appearance is more prominent in the female articles, with ideas such as dress or fashion, even though most fashion news predominantly features male designers. It is also significant that concepts such as “fear”, “pain”, and “body” are associated with women. On the positive side,” memory” is associated with female news.

The overall results of the coding for men and women yield extensive lists of data, so we will focus on presenting the most significant findings of the study, as we did in the qualitative phase of counting occurrences. On one hand, we observe codes that cancel each other out between lists due to their balanced presence, and on the other hand, we highlight the most remarkable terms and the inclusion of feminine versions of codes that were missing in the partial lists.

Table 7
list of codes with similar percentages despite belonging to only one of the word clouds.

Code	Men (H) Gr=281	%	Women (M) Gr=68	%
carrera (H)	42	15%	35	12%
cuerpo (M)	15	5%	19	7%
diseñador (M)	13	5%	16	6%
dolor (M)	15	5%	23	8%
miedo (M)	27	10%	35	12%
ópera (H)	18	6%	16	6%
periodista (H)	35	12%	27	10%
problema (H)	40	14%	39	14%
soledad (M)	12	4%	19	7%

• Source: Authors, based on data from ATLAS.ti.
• #SoEveryoneCanSee In Table 7, the list of codes that appeared in one category but not in the other is provided. This table has five columns and ten rows. For men, the total number of coded references is 281. For women, the total number of coded references is 68. For each concept, the table shows the number of occurrences and the corresponding percentage for men and for women. The codes are as follows: Code “carrera”, related to men: For men, 42 occurrences, representing 15 percent. For women, 35 occurrences, representing 12 percent. Code “cuerpo”, related to women: For men, 15 occurrences, representing 5 percent. For women, 19 occurrences, representing 7 percent. Code “diseñador”, related to women: For men, 13 occurrences, representing 5 percent. For women, 16 occurrences, representing 6 percent. Code “dolor”, related to women: For men, 15 occurrences, representing 5 percent. For women, 23 occurrences, representing 8 percent. Code “miedo”, related to women: For men, 27 occurrences, representing 10 percent. For women, 35 occurrences, representing 12 percent. Code “ópera”, related to men: For men, 18 occurrences, representing 6 percent. For women, 16 occurrences, representing 6 percent. Code “periodista”, related to men: For men, 35 occurrences, representing 12 percent. For women, 27 occurrences, representing 10 percent. Code “problema”, related to men: For men, 40 occurrences, representing 14 percent. For women, 39 occurrences, representing 14 percent. Code “soledad”, related to women: For men, 12 occurrences, representing 4 percent. For women, 19 occurrences, representing 7 percent.

Based on these data, we appreciate that it is not always clear that these codes predominantly belong to one list or the other, and we can consider them balanced as they pertain to both men and women.

Table 8
comparison of the normalized results of the highlighted codes for terms related to men and women in ATLAS.ti (Gr: number or quotes or documents per code. (H) Concepts identified as related to men (hombre). (M) Concepts identified as related to women (mujer). (A) Concept identified in both genders).

Code	Men Gr=281	%	Women Gr=68	%	Code	Men Gr=281	%	Women Gr=68	%
actor (H)	44	16%	27	10%	hombre (A)	57	20%	51	18%
actriz (M)	10	4%	35	12%	madre (M)	26	9%	47	17%
arquitecta		0%		0%	memoria (M)	29	10%	47	17%
arquitecto (H)	19	7%	4	1%	moda (M)	10	4%	23	8%
autor (A)	101	36%	58	21%	mujer (A)	44	16%	94	33%
autora	1	0,4%	27	10%	música	48	17%	43	15%
colección (M)	16	6%	35	12%	músico (A)	28	10%	8	3%
director (A)	107	38%	43	15%	padre (A)	42	15%	35	12%
directora	2	1%	27	10%	película (A)	70	25%	31	11%
diseñador (M)	13	5%	16	6%	poesía (H)	21	7%	4	1%
diseñadora	2	1%	19	7%	poeta (H)	27	10%	4	1%
escritor (A)	69	25%	35	12%	profesor (M)	20	7%	12	4%
escritora	3	1%	47	17%	profesora	1	0,4%	19	7%
hijos (A)	36	13%	62	22%	teatro (A)	38	14%	62	22%
historia (A)	98	35%	62	22%	vestido (M)	3	1%	47	17%

• Source: Authors, based on data from ATLSA.ti.
• #SoEveryoneCanSee In Table 8, we present a selection of comparative results from the coding of articles about male and female creators. The table consists of ten columns, with five categories in columns one to five, which are repeated in columns six to ten: code, male (out of 281 in total), percentage, female (out of 68 in total), and percentage. In the code columns, we see the list of codes derived from the conceptualization of male and female creators, distinguishing which codes appear exclusively in the male list (H), the female list (M), or both (A). Code “actor”, related to men: Men: 44 occurrences, 16 percent. Women: 27 occurrences, 10 percent. Code “actriz”, related to women: Men: 10 occurrences, 4 percent. Women: 35 occurrences, 12 percent. Code “arquitecta”: Men: 0 occurrences, 0 percent. Women: 0 occurrences, 0 percent. Code “arquitecto”, related to men: Men: 19 occurrences, 7 percent. Women: 4 occurrences, 1 percent. Code “autor”, applied to both: Men: 101 occurrences, 36 percent. Women: 58 occurrences, 21 percent. Code “autora”: Men: 1 occurrence, 0.4 percent. Women: 27 occurrences, 10 percent. Code “colección”, related to women: Men: 16 occurrences, 6 percent. Women: 35 occurrences, 12 percent. Code “director”, applied to both: Men: 107 occurrences, 38 percent. Women: 43 occurrences, 15 percent. Code “directora”: Men: 2 occurrences, 1 percent. Women: 27 occurrences, 10 percent. Code “diseñador”, related to women: Men: 13 occurrences, 5 percent. Women: 16 occurrences, 6 percent. Code “diseñadora”: Men: 2 occurrences, 1 percent. Women: 19 occurrences, 7 percent. Code “escritor”, applied to both: Men: 69 occurrences, 25 percent. Women: 35 occurrences, 12 percent. Code “escritora”: Men: 3 occurrences, 1 percent. Women: 47 occurrences, 17 percent. Code “hijos”, applied to both: Men: 36 occurrences, 13 percent. Women: 62 occurrences, 22 percent. Code “historia”, applied to both: Men: 98 occurrences, 35 percent. Women: 62 occurrences, 22 percent. Code “hombre”, applied to both: Men: 57 occurrences, 20 percent. Women: 51 occurrences, 18 percent. Code “madre”, related to women: Men: 26 occurrences, 9 percent. Women: 47 occurrences, 17 percent. Code “memoria”, related to women: Men: 29 occurrences, 10 percent. Women: 47 occurrences, 17 percent. Code “moda”, related to women: Men: 10 occurrences, 4 percent. Women: 23 occurrences, 8 percent. Code “mujer”, applied to both: Men: 44 occurrences, 16 percent. Women: 94 occurrences, 33 percent. Code “música”: Men: 48 occurrences, 17 percent. Women: 43 occurrences, 15 percent. Code “músico”, applied to both: Men: 28 occurrences, 10 percent. omen: 8 occurrences, 3 percent. Code “padre”, applied to both: Men: 42 occurrences, 15 percent. Women: 35 occurrences, 12 percent. Code “película”, applied to both: Men: 70 occurrences, 25 percent. Women: 31 occurrences, 11 percent. Code “poesía”, related to men: Men: 21 occurrences, 7 percent. Women: 4 occurrences, 1 percent. Code “poeta”, related to men: Men: 27 occurrences, 10 percent. Women: 4 occurrences, 1 percent. Code “profesor”, related to women: Men: 20 occurrences, 7 percent. Women: 12 occurrences, 4 percent. Code “profesora”: Men: 1 occurrence, 0.4 percent. Women: 19 occurrences, 7 percent. Code “teatro”, applied to both: Men: 38 occurrences, 14 percent. Women: 62 occurrences, 22 percent. Code “vestido”, related to women: Men: 3 occurrences, 1 percent. Women: 47 occurrences, 17 percent.

The key findings from the analysis of this table are as follows:

• There is a complete absence of the term “arquitecta” (architect) for women.

• The term “autor” (author) appears in both the male and female lists and is relevant in both cases, while the code “autora” (authoress) appears only at a 0.4% frequency in the male list. A similar pattern is observed with the terms “professor” and “profesora” (male and female terms, respectively), as well as “director” and “directora” (male and female, respectively).

• The gender distribution in both lists is also noteworthy. While the term “hombre” (man) is balanced in both lists, appearing at around 20-18% frequency, the term “mujer” (woman) has a significantly higher frequency in the female list, at 33% compared to 16% in the male list. A similar pattern is observed with the terms “padre” (father) and “madre” (mother). The term “hijos” (children) appears more frequently in the female list.

• All codes associated with poetry have a minimal presence in the female list but are present in the male section.

In general, these considerations based on the last table point to aspects that have already been reviewed in the partial analyses. The presence of creative women is not adequately reflected in the news vocabulary. Men and women are not given the same creative and artistic relevance.

Conclusions

Due to the small sample size, we cannot generalize the results, but we can draw approximate conclusions.

The social context presented in the introduction shows that the media must become more active in promoting both the visibility of female creators and gender equality, underscoring its role in shaping public opinion. The research shows that since the middle of the 20th century, laws, manifestos, and studies by governmental and non-governmental entities and researchers have been articulated to reduce the gender gap. These efforts continue in the present century to achieve this goal.

In the Spanish context, the forums organized by MAV provide insights into the evolution, challenges, and achievements since its establishment in 2009. What stands out from their statements is that progress has been made, with more women in leadership positions. However, the association acknowledges that women in the art system remain marginalized and invisible. New museums are moving in the right direction, striving for greater gender equality.

Regarding the data obtained from the study, we observe a significantly low presence of Spanish creators in general in cultural news, indicating that contemporary art and/or artistic creation have limited visibility in the public cultural sphere. In terms of specific data, among the analysed sample of 2,478 articles, approximately 17% (244) discuss artistic creation by Spanish authors of the 21st century. Among these, male creators represent 11% (28) of the articles, while mixed-gender articles account for 3% (72), and only 3% (68) of the analysed news articles feature women creators.

As the press is a widely circulated communication medium accessible to the general, non-specialized public, it is not a platform for the visibility of artistic creations, and in particular, it is not an option for making female creators visible.

A tendency within the culture sections of the press to focus more on entertainment, folklore, or generic topics was also identified, leading to less importance being given to art. In some weeks, no news related to art appears at all. In 20% of the analysed weeks, there is no news about women creators, and this percentage rises to 37.5% when considering articles solely about women. During the pandemic, most news articles focused more on adapting to health regulations than on cultural content itself.

Regarding the content of the news articles, in the coding of male creators, we observe a tendency towards concepts associated with the creative field and their position as the creators of the piece: “obra” (work), “director” (director), or “autor” (author). However, in the case of female creators, the relationship is more indirect, and masculine-coded concepts prevail, even though the articles are about them. In the classification of concepts, the first concept associated with creation appears quite advanced, and it is the case of “autor” (author) in its masculine form.

Appearance is highly emphasized in many news articles about women, focusing on their looks and attire, whereas this concept is virtually absent in articles about male creators. On the other hand, poetry appears to be exclusively associated with male creators, with very little presence in the content about women.

Beyond the numerical disparity, the consistent underrepresentation of female creators reflects systemic mechanisms that have historically constructed and validated the figure of the artistic “genius” as male. Women, by contrast, have been relegated to the margins of cultural production, either excluded from institutional narratives or framed through personal, emotional, or domestic lenses. This symbolic imbalance is not incidental; it is rooted in long-standing socio-cultural structures that continue to shape the criteria for visibility, legitimacy, and cultural value. Recognizing this dynamic is essential to move beyond descriptive analysis and toward structural critique. The findings of this study, though limited in scope, point to the urgent need for continued critical inquiry into how media discourse reproduces these entrenched hierarchies and how such discourses might be challenged or reconfigured.

In general, and to summarize, the visibility of Spanish female creators in the 21st century is limited in the daily press, and their content does not promote the dissemination of female role models as creators of art and culture. There is still much work to be done to achieve recognition for artistic endeavours and to achieve parity in this recognition between men and women.

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• How to cite this article according to the journal’s norms:
  YÁÑEZ-MARTÍNEZ, Begoña; BARBAN FRANCESCHI, Roberta; McGOWAN, Nadia. “Visibility or invisibility: contemporary Spanish female creators in the press”. Revista Estudos Feministas, Florianópolis, v. 34, n. 1, e95158, 2026
• Funding:
  This project is funded by the Vice-Rectorate of Research of Universidad Internacional de La Rioja, after being evaluated by an expert committee in the Call for Funding of UNIR Research Projects (VMC-DiSEA Project, 2020-2022)
• Data Availability Statement:
  Research data is available in the repositories. Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18374003. Mendeley: https://doi.org/10.17632/c37smjdwf6.1.
• Consent for use of image:
  Does not apply
• Approval by research ethics committee:
  Does not apply

Edited by

• Associate Editor:
  Cristina Scheibe Wolff / http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7315-1112

• Scientific Editor:
  Susana Borneo Funck / http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5444-2520

Data availability

Research data is available in the repositories. Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18374003. Mendeley: https://doi.org/10.17632/c37smjdwf6.1.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  30 Mar 2026
• Date of issue
  2026

History

• Received
  26 June 2023
• Reviewed
  23 May 2025
• Accepted
  26 June 2025