Abstract
In 2006, Gisberta Salce Júnior died inside of a pit, in an abandoned building, after being tortured for 3 days by a group of teenagers, in Porto, Portugal. Gisberta was a transgender woman who had moved to Portugal from Brazil in the 1980’s. In this paper, we explore the media coverage of her death as an illustrative case of existing social representations of gender, resulting in two main findings: that even those who are seen as communities of support and recognition perpetuate discourses of gender binary norms, and that the only apparent possibility to humanize and transcend these norms is materialized in artistic performance and production, which allows for a more emotional connection to the ‘subject’ as a human individual rather than a mere transgression. The analysis of articles about Gisberta revealed that there is a very strong social representation of gender as a binary, consisting rigidly of female and male poles. As such, the social representation of those individuals who transgress this binary, embodying alternative performances of gender, as was the case with Gisberta, is reduced to their sexuality, their embodiment of something other than the gender binary. Different perspectives were identified: media, the courtroom, the teenagers, LGTB activists and the arts. Through this analysis and division, it was possible to conclude that these binary norms are embedded to the extent that they permeate even the discourses of those who tend to speak for trans people, in such a way that it seems almost impossible to escape them, with one powerful exception: that of artistic expression, which seems to be the only topos from which true recognition is achieved. This case is an extreme example of the necessity to transcend gender norms and allow for recognition of individuals as such.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
APCT. (2014). Análise Simples. Obtained in March 2015 from, de Associação Portuguesa para o Controlo de Tiragem e Circulação: http://www.apct.pt/Analise_simples.php?idSegmento=2&ano=2014&ordenacao=circulacao6Bi%20DESC.
Araújo, P. (2006). Marcha gay no Porto homenageia Gisberta. Jornal de Notícias. Obtained in February and March 2015, from http://www.jn.pt/paginainicial/interior.aspx?content_id=559393.
Butler, J. (2004). Undoing gender. New York and London: Routledge.
Butler, J. (2009). Performativity, precarity and sexual politics. Revista de Antropología Iberoamericana, 4, i–xiii.
Câncio, F. (2006). Morte da transexual Gisberta em documentário europeu. Diário de Notícias. Obtained in February and March 2015, from http://www.dn.pt/Inicio/interior.aspx?content_id=639941&page=-1.
Abrunhosa, P. (s.d.). Balada de Gisberta. Obtained from Abrunhosa: http://www.abrunhosa.com/discografia.aspx?menu=DISCOGRAFIA&action=det&id=10.
Correio da Manhã. (2006a). Casos a Seguir. Correio da Manhã. Obtained in February and March 2015, from http://www.cmjornal.xl.pt/opiniao/detalhe/casos-a-seguir.html.
Correio da Manhã. (2006b). Treze meses internados. Correio da Manhã. Obtained in February and March 2015, from http://www.cmjornal.xl.pt/nacional/portugal/detalhe/treze-meses-internados.html.
Correio da Manhã. (2008). Esqueceram quem matou Gisberta. Correio da Manhã. Obtained in February and March 2015, from http://www.cmjornal.xl.pt/nacional/portugal/detalhe/esqueceram-quem-matou-gisberta.html.
Costa, T.B. (2014). Mater dolorosa. Público. Obtained in February and March 2015, from http://www.publico.pt/culturaipsilon/noticia/mater-dolorosa-1666731.
Dâmaso, E. (2006). Gisberta. Diário de Notícias. Obtained in February and March 2015, from http://www.dn.pt/Inicio/interior.aspx?content_id=636957&page=-1.
Diário de Notícias. (2006). Gisberta é recordada como uma mulher belíssima, cordial e dócil. Diário de Notícias. Obtained in February and March 2015, from http://www.dn.pt/Inicio/interior.aspx?content_id=636554&page=-1.
Hall, S. (1996). Introduction: who needs ‘Identity’? In S. Gay (Ed.), Questions of cultural identity (pp. 1–17). London: Sage.
Laranjo, T. (2006). Menores suspeitos de matarem Gisberta condenados a internamentos até 13 meses. Público. Obtained in February and March 2015, from http://www.publico.pt/sociedade/jornal/menores-suspeitos-de-matarem-gisberta-condenados-a-internamentos-ate-13-meses-91906.
Magalhães, J. B. (2006). Mundo-cão ou mundo humanizado? Jornal de Notícias. Obtained in February and March 2015, from http://www.jn.pt/paginainicial/interior.aspx?content_id=539673&page=-1.
Mandim, D. (2006). Não agiram por causa da orientação sexual da vítima. Diário de Notícias. Obtained in February and March 2015, from http://www.dn.pt/inicio/interior.aspx?content_id=644153.
Morato, P. (2014). “Gisberta” com Rita Ribeiro no Teatro Rápido. Diário de Notícias. Obtained in February and March 2015, from http://www.dn.pt/cartaz/teatro/interior.aspx?content_id=3210905&page=-1.
Moscovici, S. (2000). The phenomenon of social representations. In M. Serge & G. Duveen (Eds.), Social representations: Explorations in social psychology (pp. 18–77). Cambridge: Polity Press.
Nadais, I. (2014). Muito mais do que 15 minutos de fama para Gisberta. Público. Obtained in February and March 2015, from http://www.publico.pt/culturaipsilon/noticia/muito-mais-do-que-15-minutos-de-fama-para-gisberta-1621896.
Pacheco, N. (2006). O martírio de Gisberta e os clones de Alex. Público. Obtained in February and March 2015, from http://www.publico.pt/espaco-publico/jornal/o-martirio-de-gisberta-e-os-clones-de-alex-87462.
Pereira, A. C. (2006). Documentário sobre Gisberta exibido no Porto. Público. Obtained in February and March 2015, from http://www.publico.pt/sociedade/jornal/documentario-sobre-gisberta-exibido-no-porto-83509.
Pereira, A. C. (2009). Ya, um dia fomos bater na Gisberta. Público. Obtained in February and March 2015, from http://www.publico.pt/temas/jornal/ya-um-dia-fomos-bater-na-gisberta-17363892.
Rodrigues, R. J. (2007). Ele, ela, ele… Notícias Magazine, 40–48. Obtained in February and March 2015, from http://www.casacomum.org/cc/visualizador?pasta=10096.003.002.008.
Silva, H. T. (2006). Crianças ilibadas são um convite à repetição do crime. Jornal de Notícias. Obtained in February and March 2015, from http://www.jn.pt/paginainicial/interior.aspx?content_id=555763.
Tavares, J. M. (2006). Paulinho e Gisberta. Diário de Notícias. Obtained in February and March 2015, from http://www.dn.pt/Inicio/interior.aspx?content_id=643384.
Vala, J. (1993). Representações Sociais—para uma psicologia social do pensamento social. In Em J. Vala & M. B. Monteiro (Eds.), Psicologia social (pp. 353–384). Lisboa: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.
Watson, L. P., & Maia, N. M. (2006). Tribunal não encontrou razão do crime. Jornal de Notícias. Obtained in February and March 2015, from http://www.jn.pt/paginainicial/interior.aspx?content_id=563046.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Baptista, M.M.R., Himmel, R.I.P.d. ‘For Fun’: (De) Humanizing Gisberta—The Violence of Binary Gender Social Representation. Sexuality & Culture 20, 639–656 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-016-9350-5
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-016-9350-5