Abstract:
In the beginning of the 20th century, in a city in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in the south of Brazil, a man was accused of shooting his future son-in-law with a gunshot. The criminal process involving these two individuals revealed more than an attempted murder. Based on the allegation of the subchief of police that the defendant lived in an “improper manner” with the offended and on the actions of the defense trying to avoid a prison sentence to the offender and to restore his reputation, one can ascertain the preeminence of activities and values such as honor, work and fatherhood. The analysis of these elements allowed us to understand the existence of a standardization of masculinity as a social project.
Keywords:
masculinity; criminal process; Rio Grande do Sul; First Brazilian Republic