Symbolic Violence and Homosexuality: A Study in Brazilian Major Cities

In order to contribute to “enlighten” the dark side of organizations as an issue related to organizations studies, this article presents a research about bullying at homosexual men in Brazil. To this end, we performed a qualitative study in Brazilian major cities Aracaju, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Vitoria, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. The method used was the story of life and to assess the corpus of interviews were employed some categories of the discourse analysis. Through the empirical analysis, it was observed that most recurring symbolic violence involved the homosexual depreciation. These rely not only on indirect or subtle insults but also ways of contempt, exclusion of non-heterosexual subjects of certain social cycles, with emphasis on formal organizations, and pressure for the adjustment of these heteronormatives standards. We note that such violence, in many cases, are introjected by the subjects, causing loss of confidence and disbelief in their own personal and professional potential, the experience of ambiguity and subsequent identity crisis, and the feeling of exclusion or non-belonging together with statements of anger with the status quo, constant feeling of loss and the disbelief in the possibility of a changing reality. In relation to the internalization, there is a reproduction of violence on others, especially those non-heterosexuals who become distant, in other respects, from the homogenic model. In this process, the association with women was essential since the closer to the feminine approach, the greater the risk of being socially unsuccessful. We concluded this work, emphasizing the importance of developing new studies in the area.