“Cidadãos de bem” com armas: Representações sexuadas de violência armada, (in)segurança e legítima defesa no Brasil

• Main Author: Rita Santos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centro de Estudos Sociais da Universidade de Coimbra 2012-03-01
• Series: Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais
• Subjects: armed violence; Brazil; disarmament; security; victimology; women and violence
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/rccs/4851

This article examines the discursive strategies used by movements operating for and against micro‑disarmament in Brazil through the analysis of the campaign materials used by both sides in the referendum on the prohibition of sale of firearms and ammunition which took place in October 2005. It highlights the use of vote‑attracting strategies and representations based on sexualized constructions of the experiences and behavior of women and men relative to the probability, sites and protagonists of armed victimization, and the conception and exercise of legitimate defense as a right and/or privilege of the “good citizen”. These representations need to be studied and discussed as they influence the way violence and (in)security are imagined and perceived, which in turn conditions the policies designed to combat and prevent violence.