Memórias de infância de professoras da educação infantil: gênero e sexualidade

Abstract

This dissertation aimed to investigate the manner in which Primary School teachers experienced/built genre and sexuality conceptions in several interpersonal relationships, in private and public environment, among family members, friends, neighbors, school, and church. Furthermore, the way they were educated andcared in order to meet the requirements of behaviors “known as” for girls, according to what was dictated and the social and historical standards. The argumentation was that childhood is a cultural, social and historical construction besides being a meaningful period of human life. A time of building concepts and conceptions that may influence how relationships are going to be established and subsequently, through one’s adult life. For doing so, it was taken privileged memory sources from the childhood of five teachers, who were born in Dourados, State of Mato Grosso do Sul – Brazil, graduated in Pedagogy and, has worked with zero-to-five-year-old children in Municipal Primary School Centers and Primary SchoolCenters from the city. Bibliographic research methodology was taken based on actors who discuss childhood, Primary Education and the relationships with the genre and sexuality themes. By documents productions, using Thematic Oral History, semi-structured interviews were done for registering their childhood memories. Analysis showed that the teachers learning about such themes were traversed by silence, doubt, fear, embarrassment and shame. It was noticeable a close relation with mothers, whose education and attention, given to their female/male children, were their own responsibility, who passed again their concepts / prejudices to their female/male children. Also, it was observed that teachers were educated to live a feminineness said to be the right one, as the only way considered the normal and healthy sexuality, the heterosexuality. They were resentful of being always watched, cared, controlled and guided to accomplish their social duties which were considered “typical” of women. Moreover, they were said not to “exceed” themselves, especially during plays and games that happened only after their house chores, of which boys were totally free from any obligation. It was still testified that assertions of genre differences, inequalities of opportunities, predictable places for girls/boys, women/men, were part of their childhood. They often used the words this, about this, these issues, those questions to avoid saying the words sex, sexuality on their statements. Also, they felt themselves embarrassed and awkward to deal and talk about this subject. Analyses reveal a lack of knowledge, from the interviewed teachers,about the concepts of genre and sexuality as they are conceived in the contemporaneousness.