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Beyond Carnival: Male Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century Brazil (Worlds of Desire: The Chicago Series on Sexuality, Gender, and Culture)
James N. Green
Paperback. University Of Chicago Press 2001-12.
ISBN 9780226306391
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Publisher description
For many foreign observers, Brazil still conjures up a collage of exotic
images, ranging from the camp antics of Carmen Miranda to the bronzed girl (or
boy) from Ipanema moving sensually over the white sands of Rio's beaches. Among
these tropical fantasies is that of the uninhibited and licentious Brazilian
homosexual, who expresses uncontrolled sexuality during wild Carnival
festivities and is welcomed by a society that accepts fluid sexual identity.
However, in this cultural history of male homosexuality in Brazil, James Green
shatters these exotic myths and replaces them with a complex picture of the
social obstacles that confront Brazilian homosexuals. Ranging from the late-19th century to the rise of a politicized gay and
lesbian rights movement in the 1970s, Green's study focuses on male homosexual
subcultures in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. He uncovers the stories of men
coping with arrests and street violence, dealing with family restrictions, and
resisting both a hostile medical profession and moralizing influences of the
Church. Green also describes how these men have created vibrant subcultures
with alternative support networks for maintaining romantic and sexual
relationships and for surviving in an intolerant social environment. He then
goes on to trace how urban parks, plazas, cinemas and beaches are appropriated
for same-sex erotic encounters, bringing us into the world of street cruising,
male hustlers and cross-dressing prostitutes. This cultural history of male homosexuality in Brazil shatters the exotic
myths and replaces them with a complex picture of the social obstacles that
confront Brazilian homosexuals. The study focuses on male homosexual
subcultures in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
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Beyond Carnival: Male Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century Brazil
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