"A woman's place is wherever she wants": women's adherence to the pro-gun agenda in Brazil

Abstract

This paper discusses certain excerpts from an ongoing master's research. The present work aims to analyze Instagram profiles of women defenders of firearms as an instrument of selfdefense and to map the networks they form. The phenomenon of "pro-gun" female activism is interconnected with the rise of the new right, the feeling of insecurity and discredit in relation to state institutions, as well as the gun lobby. Both in institutional politics and in civil society, the discourses of women who represent the use of firearms as a strategy of self-defense and also as a tool for female empowerment are notorious. In line with this, research sources attest to the significant growth of Brazilian manufacturers of small arms in the last decade in the international security market. The research, of a qualitative nature, is based on ethnographic hidden observation in digital environment and on Social Network Analysis (SNA) in the initial phase. The materials used were Instagram profiles of the actresses and social organizations with the greatest circulation in the midst of female armed self-defense. The results have demonstrated: the  articulation of originally feminist symbols of empowerment with old signs of hegemonic femininity; proposals for armed self-defense for women as a strategy against violence against women; and a parallel between the growth of the arms market and the profiles of "pro-gun" female activism, due to sponsorships of women's initiatives.