What was dangerous about it? The formation and subversion of a Brazilian androgynous group (1972-1975)

This presentation analyzes the trajectory of the self-titled “androgynous” group Dzi Croquettes, which was very successful with its musical shows in Brazil between 1972 and 1975, during the military dictatorship. I argue that the group constituted an actual threat to the dictatorship, because it put into question the values ​​supporting the regime, especially the gender representations and hierarchies associated by mainstream discourse to the family and the nation. Inserted in the broader field of counterculture, the Dzi did not make a direct political critique, but the group put values ​​dear to the military regime into question, such as its defence of the patriarchal family and heteronormativity, and its nationalist patriotism. I also argue that the challenge brought by the group had limits, because the androgyny claimed by the Dzi stressed, but did not deny the masculine/feminine binarism that underlies patriarchalism and heteronormativity.

Benito Bisso Schmidt is a full professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Porto Alegre / Brazil). He was president of the National History Association – ANPUH-Brazil between 2011 and 2013. He currently coordinates Close – Reference Center for LGBTQIA + History in Rio Grande do Sul. He was a visiting professor at universities in France, the United States and Uruguay. His current research themes are: LGBTQIA+ memorial sites and emotions (especially loneliness) in letters sent to the Brazilian LGBTQIA+ movement in the 1990s.

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