Participatory photography and gender relations: An visual experience whit Guinean women

Authors

  • Daniel Meirinho Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Programa de Pós-Graduação em Estudo das Mídias (PPgEM)
  • Soraya Barreto Januário Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4013/fem.2018.202.10

Abstract

This article intends to reflect upon the process of appropriation of visual narratives while mediation of an African women group, from northwestern Guinea-Bissau, of Felupe ethnicity. The project “photographing is to give life”, based on the Photovoice methodology (Wang and Burris, 1997), has the purpose of offering tools that help in the process of recognizing the role of women in the society. Visual Participatory Action Research (PAR) was conducted in June 2016 with 28 women in the rural communities of Varela and Suzana. The project comes to be understood as a connecting element of personal experiences and mediations for these women to make visual meanings around maternal reproductive and child health. During the 13 encounters, this group of Felupe women photographed their daily lives, daily work, community, family, and traditional ceremonies. This article presents the field reports associated with the experiences of their practical, experiential, and conceptual knowledge of their problems in a process of empowerment based on a participatory understanding of agendas that influence the promotion of the idea of motherhood (Badinter, 1985; 2011), gender equality, and the role of women in Guinean society.

Keywords: participatory photography, women, Guiné-Bissau.

Author Biographies

Daniel Meirinho, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Programa de Pós-Graduação em Estudo das Mídias (PPgEM)

Professor adjunto do Departamento de Comunicação da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). Professor permanente do Programa de Pós-graduação em Estudos da Mídia (PPGEM - UFRN). Doutor em Ciências da Comunicação pela Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas da Universidade Nova de Lisboa (FCSH/UNL). Mestre em Ciências da Comunicação, Comunicação e Artes, pela FCSH/UNL. Graduado em Comunicação Social - Habilitação em Jornalismo pela Universidade Católica de Pernambuco - Brasil. É pesquisador do Grupo de Pesquisa "Pragmática da Comunicação e Mídia" (Pragma/UFRN), na linha Estudos da Mídia e Práticas Sociais e do Grupo de Pesquisa "Epistemologias e Práticas Emergentes e Transformadoras em Comunicação, Mídias e Cultura" (ECOMSUL/UFRN), na linha Comunicação, Mídias e Direitos Humanos para a América Latina.

Soraya Barreto Januário, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE)

Professora do Departamento de Comunicação Social da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE). Doutora em Ciências da Comunicação pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa (2013). Líder do Grupo de Pesquisa do CNPq Observatório de Mídia: Gênero, Democracia e Direitos Humanos.

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Published

2018-08-20

Issue

Vol. 20 No. 2 (2018): May/August

Section

Articles

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