Prejudice and intolerance: some considerations on obstinacy and obsession

Abstract

This paper discusses the construction of heterosexual mothers’ rejection and/or acceptance discourses with respect to the homosexuality of their offspring, as well as the resulting passional trajectories of the mother and offspring bond, both themes developed in our PhD thesis. Our active participation in a parental LGB support group, GPH – Grupo de Pais de Homossexuais, allows for the assumption that mothers face difficulty in accepting their children’s homosexuality. Considering the conflicting relationship established in the disclosure and process of acceptance of their offspring’s sexual orientation and in search of its resulting passions, gays’ and lesbians’ mothers’ presential and non-presential testimonies were analyzed. Based on the discursive interpretations and appreciations conveyed, the enunciations built a narrator (mother) who established the point of view of a discursive observer. From this corpus, the type of semiotic interaction taking place between mothers and their offspring was studied. For this, we privileged the analysis of passional configurations related to prejudice and intolerance, besides others, hypothetically assumed as typical of this trajectory, such as despair, obstinacy, and obsession, all of which passional, thematic and figurative configurations which link the enunciations and the social and discursive formations available. Finally, we pointed out and exemplified the semiotic difference in the recurring passions in the testimonies: despair, obstinacy, and obsession.