PALAVRAS À MARGEM: NARRATIVAS DE (E SOBRE) UMA MULHER ENCARCERADA WORDS ON THE BORDER: NARRATIVES OF (AND ABOUT) ONE INCARCERATED WOMEN

An individual’s life trajectory is rooted in gender relationships that will define them as woman or man. In each of these two culturally constructed categories, a series of characteristics shapes what behavior is ordinary, or not, for each. Through the story of Maria, the case we focus on, it is possible to reconstruct a life path based on gender relationships which established her primarily as a woman, then as a mother, and finally as a victim. In order to escape victimization, she subverted some characteristics generally taken as normal for women, deviating from this path and assuming a behavior considered appropriate to men (i.e. the agent of violence.) Judged by the Penal System, Maria was judged not only for attempting to commit a murder, but also by not behaving according to social expectations for women.