Por nós, pelas outras, por mim: a política feminista da Marcha das Vadias Recife

Abstract

The aim of this study was to understand how discourses and practices of Marcha das Vadias Recife (SlutWalk) interact with Brazilian contemporary feminism. In order to achieve that, the trajectory of Marcha das Vadias Recife (MVR) from 2011 to 2017 was reconstructed. Connections between body and politics in the MVR were analyzed, as well as its approach to the racial issue, in relation to gender, sexuality and class. The study adopted a feminist epistemological perspective of situated knowledge. Data were collected on the Internet, including debates and images; through ethnographic insertion during the 7thedition of MVR (2017), including preparatory processes; individual interviews and discussion group with member of the MVR organizing collective. References included studies on trajectories of Brazilian feminisms; concepts of sexage and appropriation, elaborated by francophone materialist feminists; contributions from the Black feminist thought, using the concept of interseccionality, enriched by historical and decolonial perspectives which approach the mutual constitution of gender, race, class and sexuality in Latin America. The results show that MVR is part of a set of feminist urban and youth expressions initiated in the 2010s, in which Internet plays a central role, with strong public presence, in the streets and in the social networks, organized by small groups which create open platforms for individual and groups to voice their demands, without the mediation of consolidated organizations of the feminist movement. Results also show that MVR maintains its vigor, acting through a quite organized collective, attracting thousands of women to their annual demonstrations, taking active part in the public debate and establishing alliances in the feminist field. With its political agenda – in which body autonomy and sexual freedom are central –, and with its protest repertoire – in which the body appears in the public space as the vehicle of its messages – MVR participants question hegemonic conceptions on women, confronting the appropriation of women. Racial dimension was identified as a significant source of tension to MVR, which is criticized due to the limits of its practices and discourses to encompass Black women‘s experiences. Significant efforts of MVR organizers to improve their approach to racial issue were observed, through promotion of public debates, through active dialogue with Black women‘s organizations and through their public statements and performances, impacting the configuration of its organizing collective, its political action and the establishment of alliances.