8. So how is gender
represented and what does
this say about Rio/City of
God?
9. Women
» Centre's on an aggressive type of masculinity
» Shorty’s wife, Dona Zelia, Blacky’s unseen girlfriend and Ned’s
girlfriend = recipients of male violence and are attacked,
murdered and raped.
» Berenice and Angelica may reject violence but they are sucked
into it as observers and mourners – They “disappear’ from the
narrative, no consequence after. Implies that women do not
matter. Angelica – not seen after Bene’s death, Berenice a
gangsters moll.
» Marina’s function is to provide the bridge to Rocket’s entry into
manhood and the outside world – class doesn’t matter.
The narrative and their lack of
presence/significance seems to imply
ideologically that women are not significant in
this world.
10. Men
» Culture of machismo creates a
climate where violence is seen as
the norm, contributing to the
incidents of violence – what
examples do you know of this?
» Evidence in the prevalence of
domestic violence against women
and men’s desire to join drug gangs,
seeing guns as a source of power
