“Com quantos quilos de medo se faz uma tradição?”: heteronormativity as part of social and affective relations and territorialities in the fraternities of Ouro Preto, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

Abstract: In times of repression and loss of rights, our paper focuses on discussing heteronormativity regarding the
university fraternity environment in the traditional and historical city of Ouro Preto, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The city,
the house, and the street are not only geophysical, but also political, social and affective categories. Thus, these spaces
carry both sexually and morally normative devices, which also assume the heteronormativity (re)production. Can a
fraternity be “straight”? A delimited heteronormative space? What are the limits of sexual identity activation of these
private spaces? How is this activation negotiated and reiterated in an urban and student sociability context? In this paper,
these questions are addressed and deeply treated. First, we discuss the links between space occupation, and their territorial
identity construction, and the production of territorialities by relating heteronormativity and space. We also show actions to
illustrate how heteronormativity builds up sociability inside fraternity houses.
Keywords: Heteronormativity. Socioaffective relationships. Ouro Preto’s fraternity houses.