Colocando a mão na massa: tecnologias de gênero na decoração de interiores no blog Homens da Casa

Abstract

This research adresses the articulation between gender and decoration in the Men of the House blog. The blog was created in 2012 by publicist Eduardo Mendes and shares decoration suggestions with emphasis on the “do it yourself” concept. Designed to cater to a presumed male audience, Men of the House stands out from other blogs on this theme by adopting an informal language, with many slang and bad words, articulating the content about decoration personalization with speeches about gender. The general objective of this work is to characterize the decoration proposals in Men of the House as gender Technologies, with an emphasis on masculinities. The temporal clipping used comprises publications from the creation of the blog in 2012 to 2018. To this end, I adopt an interdisciplinary perspective, based on Gender Studies, Material Culture Studies and Cultural Studies. I consider that the blog uses discursive strategies and materials that characterize the decoration suggestions. Thus, I seek to problematize these strategies as gender prescriptions and to understand how representations of masculinities and femininities are articulated in the reproduction of power asymmetries. Thus, the relationship between discourses and materialities in decoration provides a critical reflection on the role of design and technologies in the transformation of behaviors, practices and worldviews associated with the domestic space.