A pesquisa crítica na trama de narrativas: desenredando histórias de assédio sexual nas redes sociais

Abstract

This article reflects on the challenges of critical social research with victims of sexual harassment who narrate their experiences on digital platforms. It draws from a selection of stories told by women in the #FirstHarassment protest (2015) in which they recount, in a tone of denunciation, these first experiences. Inspired by critical discourse analysis and culturally oriented narrative analysis, in dialogue with feminist theorizing, the study distinguishes a plot that involves dominant narratives about women's bodies, roles, rights, and duties; women's counter-narratives that contest dominant narratives; and the narratives constructed by women researchers about the stories told. It discusses how the participants' testimonies undertake efforts to denaturalize sexual harassment and deconstruct the logic of female culpability for sexual violence suffered. The stories create alliances and convey new narratives for gender relations and women's rights advocacy. The article also discusses how the academic-scientific narration that addresses these stories constitutes an ethical-political positioning. The authors conclude that their writing is a political act aimed at social transformation and against the subaltern condition of women. The researchers work to strengthen the voices of women who report sexual violence, operating in alliance with them, while also contesting patriarchally-based hegemonic narratives.