O protagonismo de meninos: construindo masculinidades saudáveis

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the social construction of masculinities in childhood, focusing on the interface between the assimilation of hegemonic patterns, the reproduction of violence, and the possibility of reframing based on participatory experiences. The motivation for the research emerges from a personal and academic trajectory informed by a critique of rigid gender norms and by a commitment to the construction of healthier and more pluralistic masculine identities. The work is structured around two complementary studies, one theoretical-analytical and the other empirical-interventional, articulated by the following general objective: to analyze the construction of masculinities during childhood based on children's protagonism, aiming to look at masculinities beyond a hegemonic construction. Study 1 consists of a scoping review of Latin American academic production (2019-2024) on the assimilation of masculinity by boys. The results show that school, family, and the media are the main agents of socialization of a hegemonic model that associates masculinity with aggression, denial of emotions, heteronormativity, and superiority over women. However, the review also indicates that children are not passive, demonstrating the ability to reframe meaning when exposed to counter hegemonic narratives and educational practices. Study 2, qualitative and participatory in nature, was conducted with 11 boys (aged 7 to 13) from a community in Manaus. Through intervention research workshops, which included the creation of play dough dolls, a yarning circle and the collective production of a video, it was explored what it means to “be a man” and concepts of violence, for these boys. The results revealed a conceptualization that integrates hegemonic patterns and new constructions of masculinity, blending the traditional role of the provider with affective values of present fatherhood and the importance of family. When discussing violence, the participants categorized it in complex ways (physical, verbal, emotional) and attributed it to media influences, substance use, and relational conflicts. As pathways to nonviolent masculinity, the boys collectively proposed family acceptance, play re-signification, and ethical discernment - values that echo the Amazonian philosophy of “Bem Viver”. The conclusion of the dissertation is that violent hegemonic masculinity is a social construct reproduced since childhood but subject to deconstruction. The research demonstrates that Amazonian boys, in dialogical and ludic spaces, play a protagonist role in the critique and reinvention of gender norms, articulating local knowledge and global references to sketch out more plural masculinities. Therefore, the work defends the urgency of psychosocial and educational interventions in childhood that, recognizing children's agency and anchored in community contexts, promote gender equity and contribute to the prevention of cycles of violence. Future research must therefore broaden its geographical and cultural scope, including comparisons between different regions of Brazil to map how diverse contexts influence the construction of masculinities in childhood in the long term.