Pares contemporâneos: um estudo sobre a construção da conjugalidade em casais de camadas médias

Abstract

This dissertation aims to analyze the construction of contemporary conjugality using ethnographic research with four middle-class couples, socially classified as gay couples (a pair of lesbians and another gay pair) and two heterosexual couples. The theoretical discussion was focused on two main axes: the gender and sexuality studies, and studies of family and kinship. It could be observed that the contemporary couple have their training and maintenance from social affinities that have in common, each one in a way that did not relate directly to the model homosexual or heterosexual. In other words, what differentiated the couples - in a comparative perspective between them - was less in the type / model of society in which they were ranked (homo or hetero), than in the way they manage their daily lives. It was also found that such couples live with more equality, not a mathematical division of labor or financial liabilities, but rather, the contracts that are generated in a democratic manner in relation to the operation of the partnership between the spouses. Moreover, one still observes the persistence of gender roles defined in the marital relationship, but they are more attached to the way each couple sets these roles than the model homo versus hetero.