What Are Affective Relationships? Violence and Gender in the Narratives of Rural and Urban Teenagers From the South of Brazil

Abstract

The objective was to investigate gender violence in affective relationships and how gender issues are presented in the narratives of 11 teenagers between 15 and 16 years old conveniently recruited from 2 public schools of rural and urban contexts from the countryside city of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Six focus groups were formed. Through an analysis of thematic content, the results pointed out the difficulty in delimiting different modalities of relationships, as well as the impact of romantic love on the invisibility of violence. While some teenagers advocated for feminism, they also antagonized and pathologized homosexual relationships. Despite the fact that most adolescents were heterosexual, they presented heteronormative, monogamous conceptions of romanticism and sexist gender views. In conclusion, the imaginary of romantic love, on the one hand, is fascinating due to the idealization of the relationship; on the other hand, it limits relationships and the ability to perceive situations of gender violence. Thus, the ideal of romantic love facilitates narratives of prejudice regarding sexual orientation.El objetivo fue investigar la violencia de género en las relaciones afectivas y el modo en que las cuestiones de género son presentadas en las narrativas de 11 adolescentes entre 15 y 16 años reclutados por conveniencia de 2 escuelas municipales de contexto rural y urbano de una ciudad del interior de Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Se realizaron 6 grupos focales. Por medio de un análisis de contenido temático, los resultados demostraron la dificultad de delimitar las diferentes modalidades de relaciones, así como el impacto del amor romántico en la invisibilidad de la violencia. Mientras algunas adolescentes defienden el feminismo, las mismas hostilizan y patologizan las relaciones homosexuales. A pesar de que la mayoría de los adolescentes eran heterosexuales, presentaron concepciones heteronormativas, monogámicas del romanticismo y visiones sexistas de género. Se concluye que lo imaginario del amor romántico, por un lado, fascina por la idealización de la relación y por otro, amolda el modo de relacionarse y de percibir situaciones de violencia de género. Siendo así, el ideal de amor romántico facilita narrativas de un prejuicio que concierne a la orientación sexual.Palabras clave: relaciones afectivas, violencia de género, adolescentes, ruralidad, grupo focal Portuguese habits marked affective and social relationships in Brazil during the colonial period between the 16 th and 18 th centuries. Church interference regulated people's routine regarding ethical orientation, catechism and religious education (Del Priore, 2005). Relations of domination presided over meetings between men and women, with the church interacting with the patriarcal mentality. Power relations were already implicit in the slave system since the 16 th century and they were reproduced in intimate relationships, with the woman acting as a domestic slave, obedient and submissive to the husband. They were made to care for the home, the kitchen, ...