Abstract
Due to its graceful and light movements, its clothing, and body postures, ballet is tied to characteristics that are socially perceived as feminine. The aim of this paper is to describe the way men live and interact within the classic ballet environment, a way that is deemed deviant according to Western heteronormative norms of gender and sexuality. The overall idea was to delineate the masculinity that surrounds and is built in this space, and how ballet operates to build the identities of these individuals. The research was done through direct observation in a ballet school linked to one of the oldest and most important ballet institutions in Brazil. The main idea expressed is that ballet acts as a protective environment for young men who break out of heteronormativity. It is believed that men subvert social norms in this environment because that is where behaviors that escape hegemonic masculinity are more acceptable, gain representativeness and legitimacy.
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A political and administrative system predominant in European countries between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. There was a centrality of power in the figure of the monarch, who did not need to be accountable to society. This system was maintained with the support of the bourgeoisie, the clergy, and the nobility.
t/n: In Brazilian Portuguese, the adjectives have gender markers. The following expressions refer to female adjectives, whereas the one at the end refers to a male adjective.
t/n: These can be translated into slangs like "sister," "honey," "crazy chick," and "young lady," respectively.
t/n: Equivalent to American English expression "dangerous woman.”.
t/n: Equivalent to American English expression "I'm shocked.".
A common game in Brazil. Each player draws a piece of paper or card to define a "murderer" and a "detective.” The other players are the victims. The role of the murderer is to kill all the victims by winking at them. The game ends when all victims die or when the murderer is discovered by the detective.
t/n: “Grosso” is a masculine adjective in Brazilian Portuguese commonly utilized as a curse word towards men that are rude and grumpy.
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Acknowledgements
The English text of this paper has been revised by Sidney Pratt, Canadian, MAT (The Johns Hopkins University), RSAdip—TESL (Cambridge University).
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This work was supported by the Fundação Araucária de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico do Estado do Paraná under Grant CP 20/2015 47254 and by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brazil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001.
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Souza, M., Capraro, A. Graciousness, Elegance, and Firmness: Ballet and the Constitution of a Protective Environment for Peripheral Masculinities in Brazil. Arch Sex Behav 52, 1229–1238 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02451-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02451-z