Restraining Women: Gender, Sexuality and Modernity in Salvador da Bahia

Abstract

The paper explores constructions of masculinity and feminity in the speech and practice of residents of a low-income settlement in Salvador, Bahia. In local talk about sexual mores and parenting, the dominant theme is the &liberal' and &decadent' character of the modern age. Modernity is equated with a loss of social control over female sexuality and reproduction. Embedded in this vision is a powerful gender ideology that conditions the construction of gender identities. Analysis reveals that the negotiation of identity is a complex and contested "eld. But against the postmodernist trend in contemporary gender studies, the paper argues that it is necessary to locate multiple and contested gender identities in the overarching gender system. This is rooted in gender ideology, in sexual practice and in the systematic features of social and economic life. Far from signalling transformation in the gender system, talk about women's loss of restraint and respectability functions as a brake upon pressure for change.

¿"Desintegración familiar" o "Transición familiar"? Perspectivas sobre el cambio familiar en Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

“…En lugar de esto, un factor de mayor relevancia que preocupa a los hombres es el hecho que probablemente las decisiones dentro y las decisiones acerca de la familia se perciben como fuera de su alcance como resultado de un incremento en el empleo de las mujeres, derechos y protección legal (Chant 2000;Chant 2002c). En conclusión, el punto principal en peligro es lo que el hombre percibe como pérdida de poder en la unidad doméstica, no la ruptura de las unidades domésticas por sí mismas (Chant 2002c;Dobles 1998 ;McCallum 1999;Safa 1999). 16 Esta interpretación de la situación parece ser corroborada por los puntos de vista de las mujeres en la encuesta.…”

Researching Gender, Families and Households in Latin America: From the 20th into the 21st Century

“…While these are sometimes portrayed as marking greater discontinuity with the past than they might legitimately merit (not least on account of tenuous data --see below), qualitatively, and quantitatively, it is widely argued that such shifts have been significant. In particular, the rise in female household headship combined with mounting rates of female labour force participation is often heralded as marking a demise in the 'traditional' patriarchal family conventionally associated with the subordination of women (see for example, González de la Rocha, 1999Rocha, , 2002McCallum, 1999;Safa, 1995a). As Castells (1997:138) sums up more generally, this encompasses:…”

“…In terms of dominant imagery, men's domain was the public realm of the street (calle), whereas women's sphere was the secluded, private world of the house (casa) (Melhuus and Stølen, 1996:5; see also Drogus, 1997;Fisher, 1993;Fuller, 2000;McCallum, 1999;Melhuus, 1996:232;Streicker, 1995). While some argue that such patterns continue to obtain in many parts of Latin America today (see for example, Cubitt, 1995:107;Sánchez-Ayéndez, 1993:265;Varley, 2000), others argue that significant erosion is underway.…”