“Is it gay or straight?” – Ethnographic notes about performativity among the alternatives sociabilities

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present partial results of the Master’s research ethnography I accomplished at two nightclubs in the city of Goiânia, Goiás. In these establishments it is usual the presence of young people self-nominated as alternative (native category), ie., not sufficed in tight definitions as to identity and sexuality, covering subjects from heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual, even those who call themselves no-labels. Thus, such establishments are not identified as GLS (brazilian acronym for gays, lesbians and friendly) – even though they are not heterosexual environments either. So that not only the places are alternative, but also the people. What also draws attention to these subjects is their performative character, challenging the existence of true or false acts of gender, real or distorted, leading to inquire whether heterosexuality is a regulatory fiction. Thus, in this paper I endorse the importance of performance and performativity in this segmented market, in which contemporary processes of circulation of discourses around sexual identities and categories are defined by a certain sexual fluidity.