Citation

De Meis C. Urban Anthropology 1999; 28(1): 65-101.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

This paper shows how Brazilian women cross the line that divides the social space of the 'good women' from that of the prostitutes, a dichotomy that corresponds to two different sets of goals and urban spaces. Women's social roles and space in a Catholic culture like Brazil are those of the mother (the good woman), and the prostitute (the wretched woman). The former has as her space, home, a holy place, and the latter the underground, a cursed place. When a woman leaves the path of a good woman and becomes a prostitute she experiences a crisis that may lead to suicide attempts. Therefore, this rupture with the goal of being a good woman is not complete because, even when the woman stays in prostitution for many years, she remains attached to her former dream of being a good woman. In order to deal with these contradictions, the prostitute creates several defense mechanisms to separate her life in prostitution from her real and true essence, the one of a good woman.

Language: en

Keywords

Brazil; gender role; prostitution; social behavior; womens status