Article



Dados vol. 30 n. 2 Rio de Janeiro 1987

Mulheres Negras: Histórias de Vida

Medeiros, Maria Alice de Aguiar

Abstract

This article discusses the practices and representations of a group of low-income black and mulatto women, living in the Vidigal shantytown (8 women interviewed) and in a dwelling complex located in the Botafogo section.(18 informants), Rio de Janeiro. Information was gathered between 1983 and 1985. This article, however, contains only partial Results from the inquiry. The collection of life histories was the preferred working method when the aim was to better understand the practices and representations of this group of women. The dwelling complex received greater attention due to the wealth of information suggested by this characteristically low-income living space entrenched in a neighborhood like Botafogo, which lodges an expressive share of Rio's middle class. The idea was to reconstruct the social universe of an unprivileged human grouping in its class, ethnic and generic 'situation'. The aim of this study was to hear the informants on their experiences and emotions in seeking an approximation with the universe where they define themselves and act. Equal in inequality, black and mulatto women see themselves differentiated. Whitening themselves the goal they pursue, citizenship 'dislocated' from the dim public and privatized space. Personal relationships and the family in particular: the broader themes intimately linked to the strategies they have traced to survive.

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Mulheres Negras: Histórias de Vida