HUMOR, GENDER AND SEXUALITY: IMBRICATIONS AND UNVEILINGS FROM HUGO'S/MURIEL'S STRIPS

Abstract

From a perspective based on the work of the Brazilian cartoonist Laerte Coutinho, more specifically on Muriel's and Hugo Baracchini's strips (the character who becomes Muriel), it is possible to visualize an articulation between gender, sexuality and humor that implies the production of the body not only on the character, but also on the body of its creator. This is because the creative process of transition from the male character, Hugo, to the transfeminine character, Muriel, occurred in parallel with the author's gender transition, Laerte. Thus, supported by a perspective that goes beyond simple content analysis, as it aims to investigate the relationships that exist between the elements studied, this work intends to address the following question: How does laughter configure relationships and how can gender and sexuality be formed through it? From the description of comic strips designed as an illustrative way of connecting theories of laughter and studies on gender and sexuality, we seek to understand how humor, gender and sexuality are articulated and the implications of this fusion in the bodies production. The hypothesis is that the way in which bodies are produced by the association between humor, gender and sexuality is based on gender stereotypes and specific experiences of sexuality, but that these articulations generate different effects depending on the way in which humor is constructed and by whom it is built.