Cine Vídeo Papai: uma etnografia sobre a curtição entre homens

Abstract

This study constitutes an ethnographic investigation of a Commercial Venue for Sexual Encounters (VCSE) located in the city of Natal/RN, Brazil, the establishment known as Cine Vídeo Papai. Organized into two distinct units with varying operating hours, these venues utilize the screening of pornography as a central commercial attraction. By focusing on the spaces where pornography is exhibited, which predominantly attract a cisgender male audience, this dissertation seeks to illuminate a form of erotic and pornographic sociability experienced by men. From this analytical perspective, it interrogates sexual practices through the framework of corporeality, highlighting diverse modes of desire management. Methodologically grounded in the principles of “Groove Anthropology” (Blázquez and Liarte-Ticola, 2018), this research employed participant observation, formal and informal conversations with interlocutors, and photographic documentation. Through this approach, Cine Vídeo Papai emerges as a space that facilitates the production of what is colloquially referred to in the field as “curtição” (a term approximating “enjoyment” or “pleasure”). This concept encompasses the varied ways in which interlocutors navigate and negotiate their desires. Furthermore, the venue is revealed as a territoriality where other symbolic elements - such as urban dynamics, gossip, monetary exchange, and auditory environments - interact with and shape the sexual practices enacted within this space.