Mensagem no dia dos/as solteiros/as: 15 de agosto; Message in this Singles Day, 15th of August

Neste dia dos solteiros/as, compartilho uma frase que gosto muito e que demonstra um pouco como foi fazer uma pesquisa sobre a solteirice em Salvador!

"Até aqui, buscando 'tirar o véu', como uma metáfora que suscita olhar a 'solteirice' para além da condição de não ser casado/a, mas como uma condição que traz elementos próprios nos modos de se vivenciá-la, pretendi trazer a tona uma temática social que a tanto me é particular e é particular a tantas pessoas que vivem só – solteiras e morando sozinhas – que desfrutam desta condição como reflexo de conquista de autonomia, liberdade, independência, privacidade, e que aprendem sobre si mesmas, estando sós, mas também com as diversas pessoas que fazem parte das suas redes de sociabilidade. Assim, a liberdade de estar sozinha/o e de estar também com as pessoas, caracteriza a 'solteirice' dando-lhe uma dinâmica própria" (ANDRADE, 2012, p. 268)

Today is single people´s day in Brazil. I am sharing here a phrase that I like very much. It is a brief notion of how was to make a research about singleness in Salvador!

"Doing this thesis, I sought to 'take off the veil', as a metaphor that invites us to look to the 'singleness' beyond the condition of who is not marriage, but as a condition that brings some specific elements  related to the way that this condition can be lived. I intended to bring this social theme that is so particular to me and to many people that lives alone – single and living alone – that enjoy this condition as a reflex of authonomy, freedom, independency and privacy achievements. In addition, it talks about people that learn about themselves not only when they are alone, but also when they are with their social network. To conclude, the freedom of being alone, and also with other people, is what characterizes the singleness, giving it a dynamic that is unique". (ANDRADE, 2012) 

Encounters - talking about singleness in Manchester

Encounters was the name of a Seminar that took place at The University of Manchester in July, 2013. Part of my research about singleness in Salvador was presented, what was so greatful because I could go back to this University where I spent some months as a visitor student in 2011 to work on my thesis. 


Participates of the Session: Intimate Encounters 

Abstract:

The “singleness” in Salvador: unveiling practices and meanings among middle-class adults in Salvador

This PhD research sought to understand the phenomenon of “singleness” in contemporary, specifically in Salvador, Brazil, through experiences and constructions of meanings about the condition of being adult middle class single men and women living alone. The study was based on interdisciplinary discussions about the changes in Personal Life, in gender relations, on relationships and in lifestyles in urban contexts that were useful to think about the new meanings and practices among singleness. The research used feminist epistemology and gender as the main category chosen to analyze data; it adopted mixed methods with qualitative and quantitative devices: focus groups were realized with four women and three men as participants; structured questionnaire were responded by 76 people; field observations were taken place in leisure spaces in the city; bibliography interviews guided by the life grid and diaries were conducted with a subsample of six participants. Their ages varied between 30 to 60 years old, all of them were graduated, living in middle and high class neighborhood in Salvador, and classified as belonging to A/B social class. The construction of data and the dialogue with the literature allowed mainly to reconstruct the concept of singleness according to its dimensions of civil state, lifestyle and loneliness, having freedom as the main dimension, at the same time as the element that connects all the dimensions and the most important meaning of singleness. How men and women constructed their practices among these dimensions of singleness as part of their personal life, will be presented here.

To know more about the Seminar, access the link: 
http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/morgancentre/events/2012-13/encounters/index.html

Special thanks to Maiane, Keise, Felipe and all psychologist students at Ruy Barbosa Faculty, that are and were part of the Experience Program "Studying about single people´s lifestyle in Salvador" that helped me with the research!