Entre King Kong e Gravidade

Lendo Resistências em Beebo Brinker de Ann Bannon

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate Ann Bannon's Beebo Brinker taking into consideration theoretical discussions which centre non gender, sex and sexuality. Departing from an understanding that the King Kong thinking (DESPENTES, 2016) and the homophobic gravity (VIDARTE, 2019) are crucial idea-metaphors to think the aforementioned questions, this work analyses how some aspects of the journey of the protagonist in Beebo Brinker may be read as resistances to dominant discourses. After leaving her homeland, the protagonist moves to New York, seeking independence and learning to deal with her sexuality in new spaces in which she is seen as a subject. By interpreting Beebo's journey as symptomatic of homophobic concerns which are still contemporary, this work suggests that Bannon's novel is still a critical site of investigation of sexuality, highlighting briefly how other characters are also seen in this light. Thus, the King Kong thinking and the defying of homophobic gravity are strategies to think the ways by which a fundamental potency (ROLNIK, 2018) has been suppressed by prejudice.