Homens de farda: masculinidades, violência e autoridade entre os policiais de Porto Alegre (1882-1896)

Abstract

Based on criminal processes, police occurrences, patrol reports, and newspaper articles, this academic work aims to understand how models of masculinity were present in the daily lives of police officers in Porto Alegre in the final years of the 19th century. Through an intersectional analysis perspective, we seek to glimpse how attitudes and characteristics associated with honor, virility, authority, and domination marked the actions of these uniformed men, in conjunction with the racist and patriarchal structures that constitute the Brazilian police institution. Based on conflicts in which these individuals were involved, it is observed that the motivation for many acts of violence perpetrated by them was associated with the affirmation or recognition of masculinity/masculinities. These constitutive aspects of police actions and behaviors are analyzed not only during work moments, through the repression of the general population, but also in exceptional moments, such as the Federalist War, and in social settings, within the home, bars, and streets, where they interacted with different social actors in the city.