Legitimação da opressão a sexualidades dissidentes: uma análise discursiva

Abstract

The virtual environment can be considered an ideal place for different discourses, beliefs, opinions, information and misinformation to materialize. This same environment is also home to many clashes and discussions, whether shallow or in-depth. Thus, the object of interest and study is specifically homophobic discourse conveyed in a virtual environment. Homophobia is considered to be a complex system that inferiorizes and harasses subjects who don't follow a certain way of being in the world, the one that has been accorded the status of hegemonic or exemplary sexuality. The concept of homophobia requires an understanding of the workings of the apparatuses of knowledge and power that produce sexuality, and since sexuality is a subject explored in various areas of knowledge, we set out to discursively think about statements that say about it, and more specifically, that materialize the homophobic discourse expressed in the Brazilian virtual environment between the years 2021 and 2023. The aim of this work is to analyze comments that support homophobic discourses expressed by male and female readers of journalistic texts published on the internet, i.e. to understand the strategies and workings present in the circulation of homophobic discourse. With regard to the theoretical framework of the research, the approach chosen for this work is based on the theoretical-methodological proposal of Foucauldian Discursive Studies, as well as contributions from scholars of Michel Foucault's works that extend, expand and improve discursive theory. The material analyzed in this study is made up of comments produced by readers of journalistic texts that address events around the theme of sexual diversity. The data was selected in order to find comments that express and legitimize homophobia, both on newspaper websites and on social networks. When selecting comments, the criterion used was the presence of a negative or pejorative meaning related to the journalistic text. This research is justified by the interest in understanding and problematizing which discourses are (still) mobilized to defend and legitimize homophobic actions in contemporary times and their relationship with historicity. Based on the work carried out, it is possible to conclude that hate speech is used, appealing to different discourses to support and justify homophobia against subjects who are part of the general framework of human sexual diversity.