“I DON’T USUALLY LOSE, MY DEAR”: ODETE ROITMAN AND THE TENSIONS OF FEMALE LEADERSHIP IN A PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY

Abstract

This article analyzes the character Odete Roitman in Vale Tudo (2025) as a representation of women in positions of power, with the aim of investigating how she challenges gender stereotypes by assuming business leadership and refusing male submission. The methodology adopted is based on Gender Studies and Women's Social History, through a bibliographic review and critical analysis of works on the social construction of femininity, female villainy, and the exercise of power by women, allowing for the articulation of historical, sociological, and cultural concepts to interpret how the character symbolizes tensions between emancipation and stigmatization, as well as reflecting continuities and changes in female representations in Brazilian television drama. The analysis shows that Odete Roitman combines strategy, firmness, and symbolic presence to exercise authority, challenging cultural norms that associate power with masculinity; her performance reveals ambiguities, since, while representing advances in female visibility in power, she also suffers stigmatization and moral judgments. It is concluded that the character functions as a space for symbolic dispute, allowing us to understand television as a cultural instrument that negotiates and re-signifies gender relations, showing that female leadership is complex, strategic, and continuously evaluated within historical and social standards, highlighting the role of the media in the construction and transformation of representations of women in contemporary society.