Brazil’s Paradox: Social and Ecological Risk and Resilience Factors For Lesbians in Salvador, Brazil
By: Maya Taft-Morales
Tags: Mental Health, Brazil

Brazil’s Paradox: Social and Ecological Risk and Resilience Factors For Lesbians in Salvador, Brazil

Selected Pieces from My Honors Thesis for the Department of Latin American Studies

Maya A. Taft-Morales — Tufts University, 2015

Chapter 1: An Introduction

In the spring of 2014, when I was a junior at Tufts University, I had the opportunity to study abroad in Salvador, Brazil and conduct a small research project around lesbians and their experiences in Salvador. After returning to Boston, I drew upon the research I’d conducted to write a Senior Honors Thesis, for which I earned highest honors in the spring. But a thesis is a tough read, and I wanted to make my findings accessible to a broader audience, and especially to Brazilian readers. So, I partnered with a Brazilian student at the Fletcher school, Alessandra Caria, to translate smaller portions of my thesis and post them in a way that makes the information readable. I will be posting the chapters, in both English and Portuguese, on a regular basis. If you would like a digital copy of the entire thesis, please feel free to request one!

Because we all make up the environment in which lesbian women are either supported or put at risk for negative outcomes, the findings of this research are relevant to a very wide audience. This research has the power to inform and embolden lesbian women and allies, activists and lawmakers, and anyone looking to become more educated on the experiences of young Afro-Brazilian lesbians in Salvador and the various factors that affect them.

As this is the first post of a series, I’ll start with the abstract. Following that, I’ll post narratives that provide small snapshots of six young Brazilian lesbians’ life stories. The following pieces will come from my discussion of my results, in which I analyze different factors that contribute to risk and resilience for the individuals I interviewed.

Enjoy!

Abstract:

Cultural, social, legal, and spatial aspects of Salvador, Brazil contribute to both risk and resilience for young lesbians living there. This research investigates what socio-cultural and legal environmental factors put young Brazilian lesbians at risk of negative mental health outcomes and how social and legal support contribute to their resilience in a political and cultural context that simultaneously harbors progressivism and heterosexism.

To do so, I conducted and analyzed in-depth interviews with young Afro-Brazlian lesbians from the area. The research revealed cultural heterosexism, with Christianity as a strong root, to be a macrosystemic risk factor, with parental rejection and familial silencing as a microsystemic risk factor. Subjects noted risk factors on the exosystemic level to be subtle and overt informal sanctioning in both public and commercial spaces, and absolute heteronormative dominance in high school. On the other hand, Afro-Brazilian religion, the Internet, and progressive laws educated, affirmed, and empowered subjects, proving to be a resilience factor in their macrosystem. Participants also discussed support from siblings, relatives, friends, and activist groups as microsystemic resilience factors. Lastly, private LGBT venues, periodically occupied public parks, and progressive university departments served as safe spaces and exosystemic resilience factors. This research is valuable to a wide range of people, including policy makers and enforcers, family members and friends, as well as leaders of religious and commercial spaces because they all play a role in the mental health and well being of lesbians.

The following posts will give you a glance at the lives of the six women I interviewed for my research project. Once we get to know these women, we can discuss the risk and resilience factors in a more systematic way.

*For a copy of the full thesis in English, or the portions that have been translated, feel free to contact me!

*Please share with any and all