Eles dançam na noite: narrativas de masculinidade no corpo

Abstract

The body, as a disciplined living matter resulting of a civilizing process, carries meanings that can be read by other social agents; becoming a means of communication of the culture in which it is inserted. In this work, we investigate how gogoboys articulate elements of the imaginary about hegemonic masculinity, translating them into bodily performances presented in nightclubs in the city of Rio de Janeiro. To understand how masculinity presents itself in the relationship of exchange of meanings established in the game of eroticism is to understand how the imaginary about a desirable/desiring male is decoded in attitudes, gestures and choreographies. Supported by theoretical references on studies of the Body, Communication and Imaginary (Siqueira, 2006 and 2011; Le Breton, 2007; Durand, 2012), Gender and Masculinities (Connell, 2005; Vigarello, 2013; Oliveira, 2004), Eroticism and Power (Bourdieu, 2002; Bataille, 1987; Foucault, 1988). Methodologically, we conducted a series of in-depth interviews with the gogoboys and, based on the propositions of Ricoeur (1976, 1994) and Matheus (2017), we analyzed the hermeneutic arc developed in the narratives of the self present in the statements, identifying elements that shape the imaginary about the gender. The analyzes revealed that the discourse on honor as an element of masculinity crosses the performative practices of the proposed erotic game, generating a conflict between the elements of the imaginary and affections. The experiences places in direct relation the daytime and nighttime regimes, as described by Gilbert Durand (1993). In the interviewees' narratives, we identified the work as an element of the imagination capable of pacify the contradictions in their stories and performances, positioning senses of fall or descent in a logic of preparation or ordeal faced by the hero promised for his aggrandizement (to get lot of women and/or to live off art). Thus, we realize that subordinate relationships and complicity in relation to hegemonic masculinity are still present in environments and practices that emerge in the imagination as deviant or diverse, through the negotiation of the value of work and pleasure.