Freedom of Expression and Gender: between the Apology to Violence and the Criminalization of Peripheral Cultures

Abstract

Women are subjected to various forms of violence, including symbolic violence such as that practiced through musical lyrics. Debating gender violence as one of the limits to freedom of expression is necessary in a society that has strong roots in patriarchy and in a country that has one of the highest rates of femicide in the world. The article discusses the need to establish criteria to define what is an apology for violence against women in letters that exalt these behaviors, in order to avoid the criminalization of peripheral cultures. On the other hand, musical lyrics can also represent a form of marginal feminist resistance against the violence to which women are subjected in our society. Through bibliographic review and critical analysis of musical excerpts, the article analyzes the lyrics of the song “Tapinha”, – leading case in the responsibility of producers and authors for apology for violence against women – and other excerpts of songs that bring this same form of violence, but which did not reach the Judiciary. As a counterpoint, the song “Maria de Vila Matilde”, by Elza Soares, appears as a representation of female empowerment through musical expression.