“Alguém a fim?"

Abstract

This article shows part of the results of a research on gender, sexuality and differences, from a socio-anthropological perspective, in the area of the Brazil-Bolivia border. It seeks to analyze experiences of users' interactions in the chat rooms of the online service provider Universo Online (UOL) Corumbá. The methodology is mainly online ethnography, but also presents part of the offline fieldwork done in this border region in Mato Grosso do Sul. The theoretical perspective is poststructuralist, especially subaltern studies (queer, feminist, postcolonial). The focus is on the relations of dissenting genders and disparate sexualities in this virtual environment, without, however, failing to understand it from the offline context. The reflections point to the eroticism present in this virtual space, as well as discuss the experience of the production of a devalued "Other". It also seeks to contribute to the reflections in the methodological field of research in Internet environments and in border regions.

Keywords

• Gender
• Sexuality
• Online Ethnography
• Border
• Social Networks