Gêneros múltiplos: binarismos versus pluralismo em Stone butch blues e Stella Manhattan

Abstract

Multiple genders: binarisms versus pluralism in Stone Butch Blues and Stella Manhattan aims to discuss the arbitrariness of the sex/gender system in western contemporary society, which both categorizes and solidifies the biological sex of people in two exclusive possible gender expressions: male/masculine x female/feminine. Cases in which the aforementioned consonance fails to be met are treated as aberrations, liable to both physical and moral punishment and abuse. The literary corpus of this dissertation is formed by an American novel (Stone Butch Blues, by Leslie Feinberg), and a Brazilian one (Stella Manhattan, by Silviano Santiago). The introduction herein briefly discusses history and theory of the novel, the main focus of this study, in addition to its theory put into practice by renowned novelists. The second chapter deals with theoretical matters concerning sex and gender, important issues on which to base the literary discussion, as well as the plot and critical articles on the American novel, including an analysis of the author of this work on the novel. The third chapter discusses other theoretical issues, this time about the theory of Literature and further gender theory, besides presenting critical articles on the Brazilian novel and the critical view of the author of this dissertation on the novel. At the end of the research, I aim to demonstrate that the socially imposed sex/gender binary has to, as a matter of fact, make room for a plural, fluid system, one in which biology loses its decisive role in the individual s masculinity or femininity