“Idoso tá renovando, por isso não existe idoso”: gênero, sociabilidades e velhices nos forrós, em Natal/RN

Abstract

This work is the result of research that aims to understand different dimensions of the experience of sexuality in old age. The proposal is to understand the effects of discursive practices on the body, sexuality, aging and desire in the lives of men and women at the age of 60. These subjects are residents of the city of Natal and some neighboring cities, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, located in the Northeast of Brazil. In the development of the research, and with the resumption of socialization activities after the period of social isolation resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, the universe of forrós aimed at “older” people opened up. The forrós showed circuits of flirting, sociability, dancing, parties, dating and also reflections on sex linked to people's participation in these spaces. Despite being part of a broader set of popular festivals, the work is limited to the study of “best age” dances and forrós, which are aimed at people called in these places “crowns”, “older”, “mature”, “in old age” etc. For the interlocutors, dancing, talking, flirting, etc., means feeling joy and parties are seen as ways of promoting health. In these meetings, dating and fun can be understood as an opposition to stigmatized aging, as a phase of absence, lack and deterioration. But, at the same time, they are places where codes and moral assessments about the duty of erotic-affective behaviors “in old age” are established and renewed, also updating gender codes. The research then constructs an ethnographic study of four events aimed at “older” people, paying special attention to native definitions of aging, the associations people make between fun and health, and the specialized discourses available to them about being of sexuality and eroticism after the age of 60.