Um estudo sobre ideias da antiguidade no discurso conservador sobre questões de gênero na internet

Abstract

Historically, ideas derived from or associated with Greco-Roman antiquity have been employed to legitimize a wide range of ideological discourses, as Helen Morales notes in Antigone’s Rising (2020, p. 15): “Classical antiquity has been used to justify fascism, slavery, white supremacy, and misogyny.” This phenomenon has prompted scholars such as DuBois (2001), Zuckerberg (2018), Peralta (2020), and Morales (2021) to examine how themes present in Greco-Roman literary and philosophical traditions have shaped intellectual thought— particularly in the western world—according to varying historical contexts and across the political spectrum. Given the need for similar scholarly inquiry within the Brazilian context and in light of the interpretations of classical antiquity emerging within so-called “Red Pill” communities, this study seeks to address the following research question: “How has GrecoRoman antiquity been mobilized to support discourse on gender-related issues, particularly within anti-feminist online spaces?” To address this question, I will employ a qualitative methodology to investigate how such appropriations of classical antiquity manifest on social media platforms, with a specific focus on YouTube. I have selected the channel Pl@tinho, whose content creator appears to adopt a distinctly misogynistic stance. Of particular interest is the way in which this individual occasionally invokes concepts from Greco-Roman antiquity to support and reinforce a specific ideal of womanhood that is characterized by fragility and subordination to men. Even the titles of certain videos offer insights into how Greco-Roman thought is interpreted and recontextualized within these digital narratives. Accordingly, I will analyze four selected videos by using two analytical axes: the representation of women, and the instrumentalization of scientific discourse to justify the oppression of women. The objective is to investigate how particular images and ideas from Classical antiquity continue to influence contemporary gender discourse in Brazil, especially within anti-feminist digital subcultures.