[Sexuality and the human body: the subject's view through video images]

This study analyzes images of the body linked to sexual and reproductive behavior found in the communication processes mediated by so-called educational videos. In the relationship between subject and technology, the paper is intended to characterize the discourses and the view or perspective currently shaping health education practices. Focusing on the potential in the relationship between the enunciator and subjects represented in the text and the interaction between health professionals and messages, the study attempts to characterize the discourses and questions providing the basis for a given view of the body and sexuality. The study was conducted in the years 1996-1997 and focused on health professionals from the public health system. The results show a concept of sexuality that tends to generalize the meaning ascribed to sexual experience, ignoring the various ways by which different culturally defined groups attribute meaning to the body.