Article Review: Who is the Macho Who Wants to Kill Me? Male Homosexuality, Revolutionary Masculinity, and the Brazilian Armed Struggle of the 1960s and 1970s

Professor Henry Louis Gates’ “Brazil: A Racial Paradise”, a documentary that focuses on the Afro-Brazilian population of Brazil, explored and exposed the concept of Racial Democracy; touted by the Brazilian government, it’s influence is largely overrated. (“Brazil: A Racial Paradise”, Black In Latin America, 2011, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Public Broadcasting Service, Web) While the institution of Racial Democracy has brought upon a certain amount of integration between Brazil and its 75 million Afro-Brazilians, the not so distant past-coupled with the realities of modern day racism-has left Afro-Brazilians alienated and discriminated against by mainstream society. However, since the abolition of slavery in 1888, coupled with the declaration of a Racial Democracy in the 1930’s and the leadership of influential Afro-Brazilians, Brazil has been quietly successful, albeit

This paper discusses Machismo among Latino Americans in the modern society and how it shapes the social constructs within which they live. It will discuss how machismo shapes gay men and how they build cultural capital in order to negotiate through life. The paper will also discuss the effects of machismo on marianismo, and how the rules around machismo

Afro Brazilians have had to deal with centuries of oppression. During these times, Afro-Brazilians have had to deal with various methods, and strategies designed to keep entire communities oppressed. Many of these methods have had effects so profound, they are still affecting many Brazilians till this day. Political oppression is one of the oldest methods known to man, along with unleashing a forceful police force mimicking military forces. Authoritarian rule also played a major role in the shaping of the country. Furthermore, an inept biased justice system will fail those who need protections, and justice the most. These four key modes will be objectively examined, as well as the efficacy of each of these repressive strategies, and the impact that they have had or still have in the Afro-Brazilian communities.

In Michael Kimmel’s pieces “Masculinity as Homophobia: Fear, Shame, and Silence in the Construction of Gender Identity” and “Who’s Afraid of Men Doing Feminism” he gives us a description of masculinity and explains what this concept of masculinity means for both men and women. He argues that men can, and should be feminist; that they should advocate for gender equality, because gender equality will benefit both men and women. In this paper I will use Kimmel’s analysis of masculinity, which he uses in his arguments for the necessity of profeminist men, along with some assertions made by Jean-Jacques Rousseau about the education of young boys and girls, to show the strengths and weaknesses of Kimmel’s argument. His assertions can seem strong when read alone, however by looking at his argument for profeminist men together with his and Rousseau’s assertions about masculinity one can see a fundamental flaw in his argument. In his analysis of masculinity he not only points out the significant problems with the way men, especially American men, are forced to subscribe to this barbaric concept of manliness, he also expresses concern for this ‘boys club’ atmosphere. However, in his argument for profeminist men, he takes what could be a strong argument and weakens it when he feeds into this desperate need for reassurance by telling men that feminism will benefit them too.

Serbin makes an appealing argument in chapter two of his book, Secret Dialogues: Church-State Relations, Torture, and Social Justice in Authoritarian Brazil as he creates a sense of uncertainty and turmoil brought upon Brazil by the military and the Church. In chapter two, he presents and explains the dilemma of change to institutional beliefs for both of these entities. Although historically, the military and the Church had worked closely together, their need for adaptation to change in formulating a successful relationship in shaping Brazilian society failed to establish. The misunderstanding and the lack of acceptance of one another's ideology by both institutions hindered what possibly could have been a significant relationship in reforming Brazil and its people.

Former slaves discovered a deep feeling of insecurity after the downfall of the monarchy. Since Brazil had always been a paternalistic culture (an Emperor and an autocrat of a patriarchal house to protect them), it even led to some men and women becoming nostalgic of their former ‘big houses’, as they were known, and were desperate for the patriarchal assistance they once had in abundance. Yet, the popular president Getulio Vargas finally understood the sociological and psychological situation of the former slaves and gave a large part of the Brazilian labour population protection against exploitation from commercial

The purpose of this paper is to recognize, study and analyze the race relations in Brazil. Race relations are relations between two groups of different races; it is how these two different races connect to each other in their environment. Since Brazil is racially diverse, this study is focused on how Brazilians relate to each other. Throughout the essay, it will become clear that there exists a conflict between two race groups. Afro-Brazilians and White-Brazilians are not connected and though these two groups converse with each other, discrimination still lies within the society. This discrimination has created inequality within the society for Afro-Brazilians. Thus, this paper will not only focus on racism and discrimination that

At times the women’s activism movement was able to cooperate across racial and gender lines in favor of common interests. They were able to work together in order “to demand additional rights based on sex.” In addition, they were able to jointly support other causes such as the Spanish American War. However, this cooperation had limits and was often unable to overcome the racial and class differences between them. “Women who organized primarily on the basis of sex usually worked within rather than across racial and ethnic lines.” In addition, several organizations that were run by women tended to favor the needs of women who were of the same ethnicity, and neglected the needs of

Over the past several decades there has been an increase, in Brazil, of people whom self-identify as being black or Afro-Brazilian. What sparked the rise in these identities in Brazil? Was it possible material and intellectual gains or, sparked from activism, or from other possible factors. The black movement and affirmation of “black” identity came about much later in Brazil than in other countries such as the United States. In my opinion the most important factors for the rise in these identities are the material gains from the Quilombo Clause, the effects of affirmative action and quotas, as well as social activism.

Normally when machismo comes up in a conversation, people are probably criticizing the behavior of a person or glorifying it. Machismo is generally referred to when men behave in an arrogant and aggressive manner often glorifying virility. Men who usually behave in this manner repute all feminine virtues in order to feel secure with their manhood, often going to extremes to protect their manly image. Even though this form of behavior is common among men everywhere, it is wrongly associated with an entire continent of Latin American men.

Paul Amar, the writer for “The Security Archipelago” published in 2014, discusses the security, into queer studies of sexuality, and the concerning transition from neoliberalism to human security. Neoliberalism is an ideology and policy models that heightens the value of free market competition. It advocates the elimination of government-imposed restrictions on transnational movements of goods, capital, and people (Harmes 2012: 64-9; Cohen and Centeno 2006:36). Addressing gaps in the study of neoliberalism and biopolitics, Amar explains how forceful the security operations and cultural rescue campaigns are at confronting differences. While tackling the opposition, it caused expropriate a progressive, antimarket discourses around morality, sexuality, and labor. The book puts forth numerous ground-breaking arguments that enable its readers to rethink the nature of current neoliberal governance, humanitarianism, and the relation between the global North and global South.

According to Stephany Slaughter “there is no definition of “macho” but it relates to “hombreria”, “hombre de verdad”, “Ser hombre”” (Slaughter, ?) Machos and machismo still influences cinema and male actors that contributed to the uprising were actors like Jorge Negrete and Pedro Infante which gave us the concept of macho. The machismo in the film “Nosotros los pobres” is noticeable right away, we have the actor Pepe “El Toro” portrayed by Pedro Infante as violent, defending women figures like her daughter and even taking her as her

She engages extensive social theories in her analysis of everyday life. There is a an elaborate discussion of Cultural production theory, feminist theorizing on the body and resistance, Michel Foucault’s theories of power, Mikhail Bahktin’s theories on carnival, and Patricia Hill Collins’s theories about controlling images and the matrix of domination are employed to develop the theoretical relevance of the everyday lives of Gloria, her family, and her neighbours. Wherever there is a gap that the existing theory could not fill, she points them out and suggests a more nuanced understanding of the complexities of lived experience. This is especially true in her discussion of the “carnivalization of desire” and women’s ambivalent relationship to the “sex-positive” atmosphere of Brazil. The ethnographic and theoretical richness of the text is supplemented by a brief political history of Brazil that helps to contextualize the current scenario within a history of slavery and

When looking at Italian, Carlos Julião, Enslaved market women, Rio De Janeiro, ca. 1170s, watercolor, and Dutch, Albert Eckhout, [Mameluke woman with a basket of flowers], 1614, both images give us an insight to the way each artist viewed Brazil. By looking at certain parts of Brazil’s history and comparing these two images we will see how each artist depicts the female body, costume and commodity in a way that demands a specific reaction from the intended audience. Eckhout, a master of flora and fauna, uses his style to express Brazil's beauty and economic implications, often times favored by the Dutch. Julião’s work emphasizes inequalities between individuals from different classes

It is hard to travel anywhere in the world without seeing somewhere the iconic image of Che Guevara on a T-Shirt, souvenir, or poster. The original photographer, and the Irish artist who turned that photograph into a print, are virtually unknown. However, their image has been redistributed to the point where it can effectively be called an icon or a meme. There is no small amount of irony in the fact that an icon of communism has become an emblem of capitalism: as the image has been bought and sold countless times in countless countries around the world. The iconic image of Che Guevara has a hipster chic to it, but also political panache. To don the Che Guevara image means one does not agree with the establishment and is part of the 99%. However, Che Guevara is a controversial figure too. The image has been banned in some parts of the world, because Che was a radical revolutionary who was not against the use of armed uprisings in communist revolts. Therefore, the iconic Che Guevara image created first in Cuba and turned into pop art by an Irishman is a paradoxical and typically postmodern cultural meme.