Beyond Carnival

Beyond Carnival: Male Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century Brazil is a nonfiction book by historian James N. Green published by the University of Chicago Press in 1999. The book details the development of the homosexual subcultures that developed in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, specifically regarding gay men. A Portuguese translation of the book was published by Editora da UNESP in 2000, and a third expanded edition came out in 2022. Beyond Carnival is Green's first published book and is widely considered a classic in the field of gender and sexuality studies. It was followed by We Cannot Remain Silent: Opposition to the Brazilian Military Dictatorship in the United States in 2010 and Exile within Exiles: Herbert Daniel, Gay Brazilian Revolutionary in 2018. Summary In Beyond Carnival, Green focuses on the Brazilian homosexual populations in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Despite the increasing acceptance by the general population, gay men still face discrimination, and Green chose to focus specifically on gay men so as to provide insight into a marginalized group and identity. This also allows the exploration of Brazilian concepts of masculinity and femininity, what constitutes acceptable behavior, and shared societal values. The book details the history of sociability among gay men beginning in the late 19th century. Sources from this period are scarce so Green compiled information from police reports. Homosexuality was not explicitly illegal in Brazil, so police instead arrested men found having sex with other men for violating laws of public indecency or vagrancy. Most of these reports took place at the turn of the 20th century in Largo do Rossio, a park in downtown Rio de Janeiro, now known as Tiradentes Square. In the 1940s and afterwards, many gay men understood their sexuality through a gendered binary: the penetrated sexual partner, called the bicha (similar to bitch), was the subordinate, while the "real man", or bofe, was the penetrator. Early studies of male homosexuality focused on a small group of men with no acknowledgement of diversity within the subgroup. Madame Satã, for example, acted "masculine" but enjoyed being the "passive" bicha (or bottom) in sexual relationships.