Brazilian footballer Daniel Alves was accused of raping a woman in the restroom of a nightclub in Barcelona in December 2022. He was convicted by the Spanish court for sexual assault to four years in prison, to pay compensation of 150,000 euros, and to five years of supervised release to be served after the imprisonment. The sum of 150,000 euros, which corresponds to the compensation the victim will receive for moral damages, was paid by the family of Brazilian footballer Neymar. Daniel Alves, having no access to his assets since his arrest, turned to Neymar for help. The payment of compensation reduced his sentence from 9 years to 4 years and 6 months in prison.
This incident highlights the complicity between hegemonic masculinities, marked by dynamics of power, privilege, and prestige, through consensual violence between and/or by these. According to Kimel (2016), masculinity can be defined as a variable and constant set of meanings that men construct with themselves, with other men, and with the world. It is neither static nor timeless; it is not the manifestation of an internal essence (nor is it biological), but a cultural construction, which has different meanings at different times. Even in a specific culture, such as Brazil, we can find different masculinities (local and regional) and they are in constant tension.
One of the fundamental factors highlighted by Kimel (2016), Badinter (1992), and Dupuis-Déri (2012) is the constant need for approval of masculinity by male peers. Access to masculinity is marked by homosocial approval (Zanello, 2020). According to Dupuis-Déri (2012), it finally seems that men were well aware that it was more advantageous to be a man than a woman in Western society. Badinter (2012) emphasizes that being a man, in our culture, is a construction that is imperative and negative: "be a man! Don't be a girl," and this is the central pillar of misogyny, i.e., the rejection of women.
Welzer-Iang (2001) metaphorically described the "house of men" to illustrate how masculinity construction operates in homosocial spaces. It is a symbolic place where men must go through a series of trials provided by other men, aimed at eliminating everything associated with women. This construction of masculinity is based on a double naturalistic paradigm that glorifies male superiority and promotes a heterosexual view of masculinity.
It is in this symbolic house, full of passages to "superior" rooms, that all the performance capital necessary to become a "man" is learned. Education is done by mimicking violence: against oneself (physical and/or emotional brutalization), against other men (competitions), and against women in general (Zanello, 2020).
Men come to enjoy solidarity and social support among themselves (comradeship, brotherhood, and "bro talk"). These spaces have sadistic and dominant characteristics. The important aspect of the "house of men" regarding this artifact is the compact silence, even among men who do not fit hegemonic masculinity, in the face of violence against women, characterizing a culture of silence (Zanello, 2020).
Neymar, with his millions of followers on social media and his status as a global football icon, embodies conventional male models that occupy a prominent place in media and cultural representations, as noted by Dupuis-Déri (2012). However, his financial support to Daniel Alves, involved in a rape case, raises questions about the responsibility of public figures in combating violence against women. By giving 150,000 euros to Alves to help reduce his sentence, Neymar seems to endorse acts of violence against women, which is particularly concerning given his fame and influence on young fans. "The football field (a particularly violent sport) is the only place where male supremacy is undisputed" (Badinter, 1992).
This is how the house of men works, the silent political, media, and cultural pact of those who did not participate in the act and only observed it, or of those who left the field but did not report it to the police or any other authority that could protect the victim. Violence can have many meanings and must be analyzed intersectionally. Gender is an important factor in analyzing male silence. This is violence against women in the private and public spheres, which shows the visibility and extent of how masculinities operate in seeking their honor in relation to themselves and others.
Written by Juliana L Camargo
Bibliography:
Badinter, E. (2003). Fausse route. Paris, Odile Jacob (1992). XY : de l’identité masculine. Paris. Odile Jacob.
Dupuis-Déri, F. (2012). Le discours de la « crise de la masculinité » comme refus de l’égalité entre les sexes : histoire d’une rhétorique antiféministe. https://www.cairn.info/revue-cahiers-du-genre-2012-1-page-119.htm
Kimmel, M. (2016). Masculinidade como homofobia: medo, vergonha e silêncio na construção da identidade de gênero. Equatorial, 3(4), pages 97-124.
Lépinard, É. et Lieber, M. (2020). Les théories en études de genre. La Découverte.
Raboy, M. et Dagenais, B. (1992). « Introduction : Media and Politics of Crisis », dans Marc Raboy et Bernard Dagenais (dir.), Media, Crisis and Democracy : Mass Communication and Disruption of Social Order. Londres, Sage : 1-15.
SportBuzz. (2024, 22 février). Ajuda da família de Neymar reduziu pena de Daniel Alves; entenda. https://sportbuzz.uol.com.br/noticias/futebol/ajuda-da-familia-neymar-atenuou-pena-de-daniel-alves.phtml
Welzer-Iang, D. (2001). A construção do masculino: dominação das mulheres e homofobia. Revista de Estudos Feministas, 9(2), pages 460-482.
Zanello, W. (2018). Saúde mental, gênero e dispositivos: cultura e processos de subjetivação (1e éd.). Valeska Zanello.
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