“Deixe sinais de luta, deixe sinais de triunfo, e deixe sinais”: Uma análise sobre a (in)visibilidade da história de mulheres lésbicas

Abstract

This work is qualitative in nature, taking the form of documentary research, and is characterized by its focus on the historical trajectories of lesbians in Brazil, analyzing the mechanisms of control and annihilation of these women throughout the process of constructing their subjectivities. The analysis is based mainly on lesbian theorists such as Adrienne Rich (2021), Yuderkys Miñoso (2022), and Navarro-Swain (2004), in addition to contributions from Valeska Zanello (2018) and Foucault (1979) on these mechanisms. Drawing on the work of a historian who questions the regimes of compulsory eterosexuality proposed by Rich, the study uses Swain's notions to question the erasure of the existence of lesbian women by examining the paths taken by lesbian feminists in Brazil since the 1970s. In addition to the erasure of archives on lesbianism, it also proposes to list lesbocídio as a category of domination and control over the bodies and histories of lesbian women. Finally, the research draws on the movement in the Brazilian North and Cerrado to highlight the ways in which lesbian resistance is currently rising in the political arena. Based on this mapping, it is possible to observe how both processes, oppression and resistance, have taken on new forms in the lives of lesbian women, who often lack access to security, health, support networks, and positive role models. Groups, collectives, and associations composed of lesbian women can represent a form of integration and lesbian continuum, and this potential has been growing and expanding as women find and renew strength in building their relationships. In terms of results, this study denounces the relationship between control mechanisms and the erasure of the history and lives of lesbian women, as well as pointing out the subversion present in the communities built among these women.