A Fag by Any Other Name
Social Concerns over Same-Gender Sexuality and Self-Image in Porto Alegre, Brazil
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.v4i2.221Keywords:
Homosexuality, Homophobia, Brazil, ethnographyAbstract
This paper examines concerns over self-image during conversations about same-gender sexuality -- ranging from ‘fag jokes’ to assertions of the rights of lesbians and gays -- among low-income Brazilians in the southern city of Porto Alegre. Applying sociolinguistic insights to the analysis of four ethnographic case studies collected in 2002-03, I consider how speakers referencing non-normative forms of sexual desire, identity and practice draw from a range of available discourses of gender and sexuality -- including those of machismo, science and medicine, and of sexual rights -- and how negotiation between these discourses becomes subject to gendered concerns about self-image. Within this purview, I also examine inter-personal dynamics and discursive proficiencies which encourage the perception that a speaker might be homophobic or anti-gay, and the rhetorical steps taken to minimize this likelihood. Implications for understandings of language, same-gender sexuality, and homophobia are addressed.
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Borba, rodrigo and ostermann, Cristina (2007) do bodies matter? travestis’ embodiment of (trans)gender identity through the manipulation of the brazilian portuguese grammatical gender system. Gender and Language 1(1): 131–47.
Cornwall, andrea (1994) gendered identities and gender ambiguity among travestis in salvador, brazil. in andrea Cornwall and nancy lindisfarne (eds) Dislocating Masculinity: Gender, Power and Anthropology 111–32. london: routledge.
Costa, Jurandir Freire (1979) Ordem Médica E Norma Familiar. rio de Janeiro: graal.
D’emilio, John (1993) Capitalism and gay identity. in henry abelove, michèle aina barale and david halperin (eds) The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader 467–76. new york and london: routledge.
Fabregas-martí, ana isabel and benedetti, marcos (2000) Na Batalha: Sexualidade, Identidade E Poder No Universo Da Prostituição. porto alegre: gapa/rgs.
Fairclough, norman (1995) Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language. new york: longman.
Fairclough, norman (2005) Critical discourse analysis, organizational discourse, and organizational change. Organization Studies 26: 915–939
Foucault, michel (1980) The History of Sexuality, Volume i: An Introduction. new york: Vintage books.
Fry, peter (1982) Para Inglês Ver: Identidade e Política na Cultura Brasileira. rio de Janeiro: zahar.
Goldstein, donna (2003) Laughter Out of Place: Race, Class, Violence, and Sexuality in a Rio Shantytown. berkeley: university of California press.
Green, James (2000) Beyond Carnival: Male Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century Brazil. Chicago: university of Chicago press.
Heilborn, maria luiza (1996) ser ou estar homossexual: dilemas de construção de identidade social. in richard g. parker and regina maria barbosa (eds) Sexualidades Brasileiras 136–145. rio de Janeiro: relume dumará.
Hill, Jane and hill, kenneth C. (1986) Speaking Mexicano: Dynamics of a Syncretic Language in Central Mexico. tucson: university of arizona press.
Junge, benjamin (2007) Citizenship appeals: leftist political representation and experience among grassroots community leaders in porto alegre, brazil. doctoral dissertation. emory university.
Junge, benjamin (2008) heterosexual attendance at gay events: The 2002 parada livre festival in porto alegre, brazil. Sexuality and Culture 12(2): 116–132.
Klein, Charles h. (1998) From one ‘battle’ to another: The making of a travesti political movement in a brazilian city. Sexualities 1(3): 327–42.
Klein, Charles (1999) ‘The ghetto is over, darling’: emerging gay communities and gender and sexual politics in contemporary brazil. Culture, Health & Sexuality 1: 239–260.
Kulick, don (1998) Travestí: Sex, Gender and Culture among Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes. Chicago: university of Chicago press.
Lancaster, roger n. (2003) The Trouble with Nature: Sex in Science and Popular Culture. berkeley: university of California press.
Lindstrom, lamont (1992) Context contests: debatable truth statements on tanna (Vanuatu). in alessandro duranti and Charles goodwin (eds) Rethinking Context: Language as an Interactive Phenomenon, 101–24. Cambridge: Cambridge university press.
Monteiro, gláucia lafuente (1998) ‘o Folclore gay de pelotas’: sobre uma representação que se atualiza na história da cidade. História em Revista, Pelotas 4: 139–160.
Moore, henrietta (1994) The problem of explaining violence in the social sciences. in p. harvey and p. gow (eds) Sex and Violence: Issues in Representation and Experience 138–155. london: routledge.
Mott, luiz (1995) The gay movement and human rights in brazil. in s. o. murray (ed.) Latin American Homosexualities 221–230. albuquerque: university of new mexico press.
Mott, luiz (1999) Homossexuais da Bahia. salvador: editora grupo gay da bahia.
Parker, richard g. (1991) Bodies, Pleasures, and Passions: Sexual Culture in Contemporary Brazil. boston: beacon press.
Parker, richard g. (1999) Beneath the Equator: Cultures of Desire, Male Homosexuality, and Emerging Gay Communities in Brazil. new york: routledge.
Silva, hélio r. s. (1993) Travestí: A Invenção do Feminino. rio de Janeiro: relumedumará.
Terdiman, Jonathan (1985) Discourse/Counter-Discourse: The Theory and Practice of Symbolic Resistance in Nineteenth-Century France. new york: Cornell university press.
Published
2011-07-20
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Junge, B. (2011). A Fag by Any Other Name: Social Concerns over Same-Gender Sexuality and Self-Image in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Gender and Language, 4(2), 221-255. https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.v4i2.221
