A construção da identidade masculina em adolescentes com trajetória de vida nas ruas de Belo Horizonte/MG

Abstract

This work is a discussion about the construction of masculine identity in street adolescents of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, from the standpoint of gender relations. The methodological strategy used was the case study and the procedure was the semistructured interview with three male street adolescents. The obtained material was submitted to discourse analysis, based on four categories: life trajectory in streets, identity, masculine identity and adolescence. Many models of masculinity were detected in the universe of the interviewed adolescents: family, policemen, groups of street adolescents, and social workers. Among these adolescents, there was a need for constructing a domain of abjection, built with the forbidden or denied possibilities of identity: transvestites, criminals, violent stepfathers and street children themselves. The findings indicate that the construction process of masculine identity was an oscillation between available models and the domain of abjection. This outcome can be interpreted as a typical quandary of adolescence: the conflict between rupture and permanence.