1. Partial Truths
1.1. There are few well-developed psychological and medical discourses that are readily employed by those in the poorest classes
1.2. Foucault: “We must return, therefore, to formulations that have long been disparaged; we must say that there is a bourgeois sexuality, and that there are class sexualities. Or rather that sexuality is originally, historically bourgeois, and that, in its successive shifts and transportation, it induces specific class effects.”
1.3. Without the institutional and juridical mechanisms available to the middle and upper classes, poor women are left as the guardians against a social constructed transgressive male sexuality
1.4. Teenagers and even young children are sexual and have sexual desires
1.4.1. They are seen as having agency, even in relations with older, more powerful adult males
1.4.1.1. Leading to an epidemic of child sex abuse
1.5. “The one who raises you doesn’t eat you”
1.5.1. Women had an entire set of discourses specifically about the danger of stepfathers
1.5.1.1. Within this local construction, women speak of dangerous men as padrastros (stepfathers)
1.6. Masculine sexuality requires to have a good papo (talk) to convince a woman to have sex
1.7. Being a disposed girl-->Automatically implies that a woman is loose or avoada [flighty, loose, tricky)
1.7.1. Men suppose that this type of women are vulnerable and therefore might not mind and might even welcome their sexual advances
1.7.1.1. Women are assimilated into the conception of a “ruined” life for the purposes of any decent relationship with a man
1.8. C: Brazil is the consequences of a male sex-positive culture, society and attitude
2. Foucauldian versus a Feminist Approach to Sexual Abuse
2.1. Foucault’s genealogy of ethics is centered on the desire and comportment of elite male citizens
2.2. Foucault focused on how an entire machinery of discursive power is brought to bear on what he considers a social construction and not a gendered one
2.2.1. Foucault retains a universalizing and gender-blind approach not very different from the liberal humanist and Marxist accounts of power that he worked so hard to separate from
2.3. Feminist Approach
2.3.1. Kate Soper
2.3.1.1. Argues that Foucault does not offer any clear picture of the “interrelationships between bio-political and socio-economic dimensions of female subordination”
2.3.2. Caroline Ramazanoglu
2.3.2.1. Foucault represents a special challenge to feminism because of his conceptualization of domination and subordination as the “EFFECTS” of POWER rather than as proceeding from a SPECIFIC SOURCE OF POWER
2.3.3. Maureen Cain
2.3.3.1. Points out that “not all relationships in which people live are expressible in discourse”
2.3.3.2. Suggests that feminists go beyond Foucault in theorizing feelings that have no discourses
2.3.3.3. Urges an exploration of the unspeakable
3. Sacanagem, Transgression and Female Boundary-Setting
3.1. Sacanagem is often applied in the context of sexuality that borders on the transgressive
3.1.1. Anal Sex
3.1.2. Homoerotic games
3.1.3. Women are often cast in the role of sexual boundary setters in this transgressive complex
3.2. Resources
3.2.1. Parker
3.2.1.1. On Sacanagem
3.2.1.1.1. Linking “notions of aggression and hostility, play and amusement, sexual excitement and erotic practice in a single symbolic complex”
3.3. Social Expectation
3.3.1. Ideal men are expected to transgress
3.4. Female Vulnerability
3.4.1. Age of consent is 14 y/o in Brazil and in 1996 , the Brazilian Supreme Court set down a decision that threatened to lower the age of consent to 12
4. Normative Masculinization and Heterosexuality
4.1. Class-specific regimes of sexuality
4.1.1. Working-class Carioca population represent themselves as having “good sex” and lots of it
4.1.2. Sex perceived as inexhaustible and available
4.2. Sexual Idiosyncrasy in Brazil
4.2.1. Define actions as necessary
4.2.2. It is considered unhealthy for men to go too long without sex: it can provoke insanity
4.2.3. Boys are encouraged and expected to become active seducers
4.3. Sexual Perceptions in Felicidade Eterna (FE) from Gloria's Perpsective
4.3.1. Gloria’s concern about Luca’s firs sexual experience
4.3.1.1. Sending Lucas to the zona da puta (prostitution zone) to have sexual intercourse without the possibility or responsibility of impregnating a young girl
4.3.2. Gloria believes that men “naturally” must have access to sex
4.3.2.1. Gloria would like her daughters to remain virgins for as long as possible, if only because their enforced virginity guarantees that they do not become pregnant and bring another mouth to feed into her house
4.3.3. Brief Analysis
4.3.3.1. Gloria’s double standards regarding the first sexual experiences of her male and female children is not unique to her as an individual
4.3.3.1.1. Gloria wants Lucas and her other sons to gain sexual experience to become sexual initiators
4.3.3.1.2. Gloria wants her daughters to remain virgins until they are ready to commit to a steady partner who can support them
4.3.3.2. The ideal of virginity before partnership seemed to be far more distant from the reach of young women and portrayed a generational distancing from the norms of virginity that held during their mother’s generation
4.3.3.3. The extensive and abundant sexual discourses of these women in FE have not necessarily produced any substantive knowledge about reproductive health, pregnancy prevention, or HIV transmission
4.4. Sexual Interpretation according to Soneca
4.4.1. Sex and types of Cheese According to Soneca
4.4.1.1. Queijo Minas
4.4.1.1.1. It is a kind of hard, white, salty cheese common in Brazil
4.4.1.1.2. Refers to somebody that has gone for years without having a sexual relation
4.4.1.2. Polenguinho
4.4.1.2.1. A soft processed cheese available in triangular packages
4.4.1.2.2. Makes reference to a person who has gone for months without a sexual relation
4.4.1.3. Requeijao
4.4.1.3.1. A cheese with a consistency similar to yogurt
4.4.1.3.2. It is someone who has gone weeks without having a sexual relation
5. Laughter as a Form of Resistance
5.1. Laughter as a Mechanism to express discontent
5.1.1. Laughter speaks bitter “truths to power” and this is the most fundamental and revolutionary role
5.2. Laughter may be a powerful act of insubordination + “sly assertion of dignity” (Gay)
5.3. Finding laughter in human tragedy is one of the ways of escaping pain and human suffering
5.3.1. Humor to address what would normally difficult to discuss in a straightforward manner
5.3.1.1. 1- The abuse of women by warring gangs
5.3.1.2. 2-The desire of women for men to provide economic stability
5.3.1.3. 3-The misplaced priorities of stepfathers
5.4. Morris mentions: “We tend to emphasize Freud’s well-known theory that laughter expresses sublimated aggression, where the relation between comedy and pain is quite explicit-->Humor as a crucial means for evading the compulsion to suffer = Laughter of Resistance and a Weapon of
5.4.1. HUMOR IS A MUCH MORE DISCURSIVE FORM OF RESISTANCE
5.5. <<<A sense of humor developed and displayed under cruel and unusual circumstances provokes what Goldstein calls “Laughter Out of Place”>>>
5.5.1. Black Humor as the only available response
5.5.1.1. Laughter understood as a comprehensible response to a moral and legal system that is currently incapable of addressing the grievances of women in the dominated classes
6. Sexuality in the Context of Local Culture
6.1. Methodology
6.1.1. When reporting on poverty and sexuality
6.1.1.1. Thematic areas of knowledge production can easily be used to control and revictimize marginalized populations
6.2. Carnivalization of Desire
6.2.1. Masculine vision of desire and transgression
6.2.2. Characteristic form of machismo that is present in places like Felicidade Eterna
6.2.2.1. Naturalized and normalized within the flow of everyday life and in which men and women both participate
6.2.2.1.1. Lack of alternative public discourses
6.3. Disturbing elements that structure everyday sexuality
6.3.1. Discourses available in the middle and upper classes and others considered taboo
6.3.2. Counter-discourses are difficult to attain
6.3.3. Difficulty of any critique of sexuality
6.3.3.1. The reigning Carioca identity that loudly speaks of a sensual, tropical sexuality, one that has triumphed in a kind of Brazilian carnivalization of desire
6.4. Felicidade Eterna: A Particular Case Study
6.4.1. Sexual teasing and banter are common
6.4.1.1. Reveal aspects of the local sexual culture
6.4.1.1.1. Being clever with words and stories has value and does the ability to respond appropriately to a joke
6.4.1.2. Bawdy sexual humor is heard endlessly ( old and young alike)
6.4.2. Honigmann’s partial truth
6.4.2.1. Recognition of the seemingly ageless interest in sex talk
7. Discourses of Sex-Positiveness
7.1. The importance of Sexuality to Carioca Identity
7.1.1. Contemporary Anthropological Interpretations
7.1.1.1. For Brasilidade or Brazilianess, sexuality is central
7.1.2. Sexuality as a key metaphor in everyday language and description of almost all aspects of social life
7.1.3. Documentary film O Amor Natural (1996) by Heddy Honigmann
7.1.3.1. Exemplifies the permissive and celebratory sexuality of Rio, as well as the inherent comfort level around expressions of eroticism and sexuality in Carioca subcultures
7.1.3.2. The premise of the film is to explore how different individuals interpret the unknown poetry of Brazilian Carlos Drummond
7.1.3.3. Brasilidade of a sex-positiveness
7.1.3.3.1. The film supports the notion that sexuality is central to Brazilian identity and that Brazilians are proudly interested and devoted to their own particular form of normative heterosexuality
7.1.3.3.2. The films portrays the fact that Cariocas possess an open, permissive approach to sexuality
7.1.3.4. Criticism
7.1.3.4.1. Disregards their feelings about male and female homoerotic behavior
7.1.3.4.2. Makes emphasis on gendered double standard on fidelity
7.1.4. The Carnivalization of Desire
7.1.4.1. Humor in the form of sexual teasing or sexual joking leads toward a different traditionalistic representation such as in the standard story of sexual permissiveness and sexual positiveness that has been presented in academic literature and popular culture
7.1.4.2. Perceptions and Assimilation
7.1.4.2.1. Brazil as an eroticized “tropical paradise”
7.1.4.2.2. Sense of bodily liberation: expressed in body language, dress, flirtation, and exuberant dance
7.1.4.2.3. Public flirtation is an elaborate and beloved game
7.2. Most of the important anthropological work on sexuality in Brazil has emerged out of a lineage of male scholars interested in male homoeroticism
7.2.1. Peter Fray
7.2.1.1. Male homosexuality in Brazil consisted of 2 types
7.2.1.1.1. Upper-Class Model
7.2.1.1.2. Lower-Class Model
7.2.2. Nestor Perlongher
7.2.2.1. Masculine prostitution in Sao Paulo (1987)
7.2.3. Edward MacRae
7.2.3.1. Homosexual identity formation and political organization in Sao Paulo
7.2.4. Richard Parker
7.2.4.1. Built on Fry’s binary construct (homen-bichas) to illustrate the structures of passivity and activity and how they are used to genderize, eroticized and categorize the Brazilian sexual universe
7.2.4.2. Brazil liberatory sexuality
7.2.4.2.1. encourages various forms of transgressive play which is regularly patterned by traditional gender relations, with men being expected to act as transgressors and women playing the role of “boundary-setters” (Goldstein 1994)
7.2.5. James Green
7.2.5.1. Suggest that subcultures of effeminate and noneffeminate men with homoerotic desires existed prior to the introduction of Western European medicolegal ideas
7.3. The place of feminist in Brazilian intellectual life has been diminished due to the following reasons
7.3.1. Feminist literature produced in Brazil was viewed as too essential
7.3.2. Feminist literature on sexuality was perceived to be too “sex-negative”
7.3.3. Difficulty to confront issues that touch upon the body and sexuality in the context of heterosexual relations
7.3.4. Scholastic Work
7.3.4.1. Rose Marie Muraro
7.3.4.1.1. Provides an interesting window into the process of intellectual marginalization of certain feminist writings about sexuality
7.3.4.2. Sonia Alvarez
7.3.4.2.1. 2 distinctive middle-class women’s networks provided the organizational bases for nascent feminist in Brazil
7.3.4.3. Historical and Political Referent
7.3.4.3.1. During the military dictatorship period
7.3.4.4. Goldstein’s Perspective
7.3.4.4.1. The inability to speak critically about sexuality leaves, poorer, darker-skinned Afro-Brazilian women in the position of second-class sexual citizens, unable to fully critique some of their own local subculture’s particular approach to sexuality
8. Ethnography: Local Sexual Culture in Felicidade Eterna
8.1. Eating Metaphors: A Socio-Linguistic Approach
8.1.1. The word “comer” (to eat) means both “to eat” and to actively consume another person sexually, is connected to male sexual activity
8.1.1.1. Women are perceived in a sexually passive position as metaphorical receivers, and they “dar”, or “give”
8.2. Ethnographic Analysis
8.2.1. A man who eats other men and assumes the public status as the active sexual partner can maintain a firm male identity as an homem, while the passive partner, the bicha or viado, considered the recipient in anal sex, loses status
8.2.2. A man who is a cuckolded becomes a corno (horn, a man with horns), feminized by his partner’s infidelity
8.2.2.1. Negative perspective
8.2.2.1.1. Females are to be consumed and not to be “active consumers”
8.2.2.1.2. Women who consume too many sexual partners are referred to as galinhas (chickens) and piranhas (piranas or meat-eating fish), and both of these animal metaphors have negative connotations
8.2.3. The women in FE are able to subvert the social and moral order that idealizes men as eaters and women as those being eaten
8.2.3.1. They create their own standards for acceptable sexual behavior
8.2.3.1.1. Form of Protest
8.3. Eating Metaphors implied into the economic and sexual aspects of normative gender relations
8.3.1. Women expect men to be providers, and this is a key element in a woman’s recognition of a partner’s good qualities
8.3.1.1. Economic Expectation
8.3.1.1.1. Express satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their status quo
8.3.2. The metaphor of eating and sexuality are turned upside down through humor, which functions as a window expressing their resistance to the traditional metaphorical and real constrains on their sexual selves
8.3.3. Women actively seek out boyfriends with resources and demand food from them; they even break off relationships with men who literally consume too much and produce too little
8.3.3.1. Women feel proud of their ability to use their seductive capabilities to gain something in exchange
8.3.3.1.1. Using beauty and youth to survive, expecting a payoff from men
8.4. Women’s creative resistance to the dominant metaphors of consumption and sexuality
8.4.1. Examples of women overturning the gender hierarchical embedded in the eating metaphors that make men symbolically dominant in the language of sexuality
8.4.1.1. Gloria whacking Zezinho
8.4.1.1.1. Gloria’s pragmatic perspective
8.4.1.2. Soneca manipulating a man to provide her with food she would not normally be able to afford
8.4.1.3. Eliana and Darlene gaining economically from long-term liaisons with married men
8.4.1.4. Sarlete, nicknamed “Buceta Assassina” or “Killer Pussy”, for killing the men who ate her
8.4.2. Susan Bordo
8.4.2.1. Notes 2 waves of Foucaldian-influenced feminism
8.4.2.1.1. 1- The first wave emphasizing his work on “discipline”, “docility”, “normalization”, and “bio-power
8.4.2.1.2. 2- The second wave more “postmodern”, wave emphasizing “intervention”, “contestation”, and “subversion”