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Daniela Lazoroska

Daniela Lazoroska

Lecturer

Daniela Lazoroska

Vulnerable agency: fat, bodies and their making among youth in a Brazilian favela

Author

  • Daniela Lazoroska

Summary, in English

Contemporary social and cultural conditions in Brazil, together with technological developments and social media have enabled more young people of the favela to participate in different spheres of public life. These social and cultural changes have brought diversified new images of what it means to be an embodied subject. In this article, I explore the ways in which the body holds a seemingly paradoxical role as a locus of agency while being the primary site of attempts to be read, classified, and controlled for Brazilian favela youth. I explore the essential role of the body in enabling agency, as they deal with shame, fat, and exercise. Through an examination of the ways in which they were vulnerable, as a subjective experience, and its connections with their social context, this article aims for a nuanced understanding of their agency, as it intersects with gender, class, and race.

Department/s

  • The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics

Publishing year

2020

Language

English

Pages

547-557

Publication/Series

Journal of Gender Studies

Volume

29

Issue

5

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Topic

  • Social Sciences
  • Gender Studies
  • Social Anthropology
  • Cultural Studies

Keywords

  • body
  • fat
  • agency
  • youth
  • favela

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0958-9236