Subaltern masculinities

an ethnobiography with African immigrants in Brazil

Abstract

The article analyses masculinities of African men in the scenario of migration and diaspora in the city of Fortaleza. What is it to be a man, black, African and immigrant in Brazil? The reflection is based on ethnographic research and interviews with Africans of different nationalities, combined with the author's biographical experiences, configuring an ethnobiography. The notions of hegemonic and subaltern masculinities are moved. African men are racialized, discriminated, and sexualized, occupying a secondary place in society. They are made visible by the imaginary of the colonial past. The university and precarious work constitute means of insertion. The migratory context allows the construction of images of male virility between Africa and Brazil. They present subaltern masculinities in front of Brazilian society and hegemonic in front of African women, valued by Brazilian women. The interactions reveal negotiations, in the midst of colonial sexual representations, marked by racial and cultural tensions. The living and experience in the diaspora shape new patterns of masculinity, which challenge gender relations and domination and, to rethink the formulations of man as executioner and woman as victim.