What have a diva got? Brazilian female singers, voices, bodies and powers viewed by experts

Abstract

Within certain homosexual social networks, the adjective “powerful” is often operated as a marker for the classification, comparison, qualification and representation of female idols admired by gay men. Based on ethnography conducted in Belem (Para), this paper aims to understand what are the notions of power articulated by gay men - with identity and gender performance recognized, by them, as masculine - to describe their favorite female singers. Showing that, in most speeches, this “power” of female singers transcends strictly musical predicates and it is revealed rooted in all performance of their bodies, this paper discusses about the “powers”, “dangers”, “centralities”and “peripheries” of the body.