Sex and the Security State: Gender, Sexuality, and "Subversion" at Brazil's Escola Superior de

Guerra, 1964-1985
Author(s): Benjamin Cowan
Source: Journal of the History of Sexuality, Vol. 16, No. 3, Latin American Sexualities (Sep.,
2007), pp. 459-481
Published by: University of Texas Press
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 Sex andthe SecurityState:Gender,Sexuality,
and "Subversion"at Brazil'sEscola
Superiorde Guerra,1964-1985
BENJAMIN COWAN
Universityof California,LosAngeles

The maintenanceof a reasonablestateof nationalsecurityconstitutesa

continuousandunceasingprocess. . . [because]the Nation itself . . . will
alwayshavecontraryintereststhat threatenits sovereigntyand freedom,
circumstances that destabilizeits internallife, and ideologiesthat challenge
faithin its institutions.
Gen. OswaldoCordeirode Farias,"ASegurancaNacional
no panoramamundialda atualidade"1

IN LATEMARCH19 6 4 "contrary interests" andthreatsto "national

security" reached an intolerable
pitch, as far as top Brazilianmilitary
officialswere concerned.Amidunprecedented polarizationin national
politics,populistPresidentJoaoGoulartaccelerated his leftwarddrift,
sanctioning nationalistic
radically economicandsocialreforms.Goulart,
nicknamed "Jango,"evendaredto supportthe unionizationof enlisted
men,a movethat-fromtheperspective of analarmed andincensedofficer
corps-constituteda directthreatto the militaryhierarchy. Anti-Goulart
forcesrespondedswiftlyandunilaterally, andby the morningof 2 April
BrazilianscouldharborlittledoubtthatJango'sreformist presidencyhad
cometo a suddenanddramatic end.A militarycoupd'etat,supportedby
Goulart'scivilianopponentsandby the UnitedStates'diplomaticrep-
resentatives,hadbegunon 31 March,its conspirators accusingGoulart
of attemptingto achievea communistdictatorship in Brazil.The "Revo-
lutionof 1964"-for so the coup plottersdubbedtheirassumptionof

'Speechdelivered
atEscolaSuperior deGuerra,1961,18-19,EscolaSuperior
deGuerra,
Biblioteca
General
Cordeiro de Farias(hereafter
ESGBGCF),document numberC-01-61.
Unlessotherwise
noted,alltranslations
fromthePortuguesearemyown.

Journalof theHistoryof Sexuality,

Vol. 16, No. 3, September2007
(c)2007 by the Universityof TexasPress,P.O.Box 7819, Austin,TX 78713-7819

459

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
460 BENJAMIN COWAN

power-claimedto haveoustedGoulartin the nameof anticommunist

constitutionalismand"nationalsecurity."2
Contraryto the expectations andthe hopesof somecivilian golpistas,
however,the militaryquicklyestablisheda grip on powerthat would
lastuntil1985-Brazil'slongestdictatorship to date.Withindaysof the
coup,Operacdo Limpeza(OperationCleanup)roundedupthousandsof
suspected"subversives" throughoutBrazil.Thesesuspectswereamong
the firstcasualties
of the militarygovernment's long andrepressive cam-
to
paign safeguard "national security"against"subversion"-a campaign
that for twentyyearsstroveto intimidate,silence,or sequesterwhat
oppositionit did encounterfromoutspokenpoliticians,laboractivists,
students,andevena limited(andhandilyexterminated) armedguerrilla
movement.Indeed,the regime'scountersubversive "dirtywar"played
out on theverybodiesof suspectedopponents.Securityforcesdetained
tensof thousandsof politicalprisoners, andthewidespread, institutional-
izedtortureof suchdetaineesbecamesomethingof a publicsecret.Over
the courseof the dictatorship, stateviolencetook at least195 lives;144
furthervictimswere"disappeared." Government controlof the popula-
at the heightof the repression,
tion, particularly reliedon the resultant
cultureof fear,in whichpotentialtorture,disappearance, and/or death
constitutedeveryday, deterrent
politically realities.'
The decadesof militaryrule and repressionsawconstantenshrine-
ment of countersubversive nationalsecurityas the regime'sprimary
andunalienable responsibility,one thatimplicitlyandexplicitlyjustified
dictatorship.Keymilitaryplayers-the architectsof the 1964 "revolu-
tion"-had longsincecodifiedtheirsecurityconcernsin whattheycalled
a nationalsecuritydoctrine(NSD),whichfundamentally linkeddefense
andcapitalist in an
development ongoing declarationof Brazil'sobjectives
anddenunciation of the obstaclesthatstoodin the pathto thesegoals.4
Scholarshaveclassified Brazilian NSD aspartof a largerphenomenonof
nationalsecurityideology(NSI)thatgrippedthe hemisphere, andespe-
ciallythe SouthernCone,duringthe coldwar.In Brazilandelsewhere,
2Formoredetailednarration of the eventssurrounding the coupsee ElioGaspari,
DitaduraEnvergonhada (RiodeJaneiro:Companhia 2002),45-125;ThomasE.
dasLetras,
Skidmore, ofMilitaryRulein Brazil,1964-1985(NewYork:OxfordUniversity
ThePolitics
Press,1988);andRuthLeacock, Requiem for a Revolution: TheUnitedStatesandBrazil,
1961-1969(Kent,Ohio:KentStateUniversity Press,1990).
'Skidmore, ofMilitaryRule,24;MariaHelenaMoreira
ThePolitics Alves,StateandOp-
positionin MilitaryBrazil(Austin:
Universityof TexasPress,1985),34, 123-38, 155-60;
Archdiocese Nuncamais(Petropolis,
of SaoPaulo,Brasil: Vozes,1985);Comissao
Brazil: de
FamiliaresdeMortose Desaparecidos Politicoset al.,Dossie
dosmortose desparecidos
politicos
a partirde1964(Recife,Brazil:Companhia Editora de Pernambuco, 1995),29.
4FransiscoCesarAlvesFerraz,A Sombra dosCarvalhos: EscolaSuperiordeGuerraepolitica
noBrasil(1948-1955)(Londrina, Brazil:EditoraUEL,1997);Antoniode Arruda,ESG:
HistOria dasuadoutrina (SaoPaulo:EdicOes GRD,1980).

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 SexandtheSecurity
State 461

NSIdeployedinterdependent appealsto nationalism, modernization, and

anticommunism in an effortto guideandlegitimatedictatorialand/or
repressivepoliticalandeconomicprograms.' Extensive analysishasshown
thatnationalsecurityideologieslookedto the stateto guarantee security
byprotectingcapitalist, "Western," and"Christian" valuesfromexternal
aggression and,morecrucially, frominternalenemiesandanever-invoked
menaceof communist"subversion."
Studiesof regionalNSI-and of Brazil'sparticularly elaboratevari-
ant-have, however,generally refrained from exploring contextual
the
meanings and ramificationsof such subversion, specificandfunctional
the
threatsthat subversionwas thoughtto pose. Summaries of NSI point
out-not unjustifiably-ways in whichnotionsof oppositionandsubver-
sionremained vague,variable, andunsubstantiated in militarydiscourses.
In hisanalysisof dictatorial
Brazil, Kenneth Serbin evocatively notesthat
bythe 1970s"subversion" had become "the military'scatchallphrasefor
anythingthatsmelledof leftism. . . or impliedcriticismof the regime."
Suchanalysis is notwithoutitstruths-but whatof thewaysthatNSI did
attemptto identifyandaddressputatively subversivethreats? If, asCarina
Perelliputsit, militaryideologuesfeareda national"bath"in the com-
munist"enemy'sfavoriteculturalbroth,"canwe determinethatbroth's
ingredients?What,exactly,composedthe "perceived threat"thatneces-
sitatedmilitaryruleandrepression? How was"subversion" constituted
andconjured? 6
In Brazil,we cantracesecurityideology'sconceptualizations of threat
the
through documentary record left behindat the discursive heartof
NSD-the EscolaSuperiorde Guerra(HigherWarCollege,hereafter
ESG),a pedagogicalthinktankfoundedexplicitlyfor the purposeof
institutionalizingandpropagating NSD.7Here,from1949 onward,elite

'GeorgeA.Lopez,"National SecurityIdeologyasanImpetus to StateViolenceandState

Terror,"in Government ViolenceandRepression:AnAgenda forResearch, ed.GeorgeA.Lopez
andMichaelStohl(Westport, Conn.:Greenwood Press,1986),73-96;DavidPion-Berlin,
"LatinAmerican NationalSecurity Doctrines:Hard-andSoftlineThemes," ArmedForces
andSociety 15,no. 3 (1989):411-29;Carina Perelli,"TheMilitary's Perceptionof Threatin
theSouthern Coneof SouthAmerica," in TheMilitaryandDemocracy: TheFutureofCivil-
MilitaryRelations in LatinAmerica,ed. LouisW. Goodman, Johanna S. R. Mendelson,
andJuanRial(Lexington, Mass.:LexingtonBooks,1990),93-106;Moreira Alves,State
andOpposition, 1-28;Martha K.Huggins,MikaHaritos-Fatouros, andPhilipG.Zimbardo,
ViolenceWorkers:PoliceTorturers andMurderers Reconstruct BrazilianAtrocities
(Berkeley:
Universityof CaliforniaPress,2002),244.
6Alfonso ReyesEchandia, "Legislation andNationalSecurity in LatinAmerica," in Vigi-
lantismandtheStatein Modern LatinAmerica: Essays onExtralegal ed.Martha
Violence, K.
Huggins(NewYork:Praeger, 1991), 147;KennethSerbin,Secret Dialogues:Church-State
Relations,Torture,andSocialJusticeinAuthoritarian Brazil(Pittsburgh:Universityof Pitts-
burghPress,2000),21, 43; Perelli,"TheMilitary's Perception of Threat,"94.
7Arruda, ESG,4. TheESG,ashasbeenextensively documented, formedsomething ofthe
central"brain"of thecoupandtheadministration of Humberto Alencar deCastello Branco,

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462 COWAN
BENJAMIN

civiliansjoinedmilitaryofficersin thestudyanddevelopment of Brazilian

NSD, layingthe foundationsformuchof the regime'snationalsecurity
policyandlegislation.' Duringthisprocess,ESGnationalsecurity theorists
anddiscussants articulated, to variousdegrees,the theoreticalface(s) s) of
the "enemy," theperceivedsourceof the "crisis" thatmademilitaryrule
andNSDitselfso essential. Throughapainstaking thematicanalysis of the
speeches, conference records,reports, and term papers these individuals
left behind,we canbeginto constructa revelatory pictureof justwhat
"smelledof leftism,"howit threatened nationalsecurity, andhowatleast
someideologuesproposedto dealwithsuchthreats.
Thisessayseeksto illuminate a fragment of thatlargerpicture,exploring
thewaysthatESGthinkers in the 1960sand1970slentconceptual shape
to nationalsecurity threatsassexualandgenderedattacks on anideallyanti-
communist Brazil.Initial(i.e.,1950sandearly1960s)ESGpreoccupations
revolvedaroundinternational communism's capacity forincitingnational
disorder, a rathergeneralconceptoftendescribedin termsof territorial,
political,social,andevencorporeal "disintegration" "disag-
(desintegractio),
gregation" (desagregaciio),or "dissolution" (disso/ufito).Astheyearswore
on, however,freshandmorespecificconcernscomplicated andelaborated
the ordem-obsessed paranoias of the ESG's firstdecade.9 Internal enemies
began to dominate ESG anxieties, and terms like "subversion" (subversiio)
and"revolutionary warfare" (guerrarevolucionaria, anofficialESGschematic
forcovert,communist-inspired, andpsychological
physical, warfare)became
constants in anincreasingly alarmist discourse. Theseever-invoked specters
gradually gainedconceptual substance, andthedesintegraciio centralto earlier
discussions tookon a crucialsexual-andsexually threatened-component.
Subversion andguerra revolucionaria (or"GR,"inESGshorthand) became
gendered, sexualizedhazards, particularlyharmful to the youth,who
nation's
wereinturnanessential national"lifeforce"thattheseprocesses threatened
withphysical andmoraldegeneration. In fact,somenation-building NSD

themilitary regime's firstpresident.It is importantto note,of course,thatwhiletheschool

remained afocalpointforelitearticulations ofBrazil's anddevelopment
security problems and
solutions,it cannotbe considered theexclusive orcomprehensive representationof military
thought.Nevertheless, NSD wasactively propagated at non-ESGmilitary and
institutions
amongsecurity forceson the ground. See AlfredStepan, TheMilitaryin Politics:
Changing
Patternsin Brazil(Princeton, N.J.:Princeton University Press,1971),181;andHuggins,
Haritos-Fatouros, andZimbardo, Violence Workers,70-75.Further mustinvestigate
research
thedegreetowhichparticular strains
ofcountersubversive thoughtextended to othermilitary,
police,andcivilian sectorsin thisperiod.
'Pion-Berlin, "Latin American National SecurityDoctrines,"422.SeealsoAlfredStepan,
Rethinking BrazilandtheSouthern
MilitaryPolitics: Cone(Princeton,N.J.:Princeton Uni-
Press,
versity 1988).
9Alfred Stepan's earlyworksuggests thatofficers' perceptions
explicit ofanunprecedented
threatto theinstitutional hierarchy of the armed forcesthemselves playeda keyrolein the
military'sretentionof powerafter1964(TheMilitaryin Politics, 153-71).

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 SexandtheSecurity
State 463

theoristsappeared to viewsubversive "disintegration"as the conceptual

successor to the "degeneracy" vilifiedby a longtraditionof positivistand
eugenicistBrazilian intellectuals,
particularlywhenit cameto policingsexual-
ityin thename of national "advancement" and socialorder.'Bythe 1970s,
nationalsecurity theoristsstresseddegenerative, "perverse"sexasaprimary
weapon of the "subversive" and/or "communist" enemyagainst whichthey
so fanaticallyinveighed. Young men's "deviant" "free
sexuality, love,"and
countercultural expressions of sexual "liberation"became,in thediscourse
of theESG,pathologized sourcesandsymptoms of Brazil's to
vulnerability
communist"penetration" and"subversive" warfare. Studentsandprofes-
sorsof nationalsecurity, joinedbyprofessional expertswholecturedatthe
ESG,envisioned communists or subversives usingcountercultural sexand
drugsto "seduce" andemasculate Brazilian youth.Inresponse, ESGthink-
erscalledfornationalmasculinization, a "toughening up"to be achieved
mainlythroughthecrucibleof servicein the armedforces.

"PERVERSION,"
"PROSTITUTION," AND
"PORNOGRAPHY,"
"PERMISSIVENESS":
SUBVERSIVES'
SEXUAL
AGENDA
Asmilitary ruleworeonthroughthelate1960sand1970s,ESGtheorizations
of subversion increasinglyincludeda focuson youthas the targetforand
conduitof communist threatsto nationalsecurity.
In thismiddleperiodof
dictatorship,subversionand GR gainedmore shapeasaggressive
conceptual
processesdesigned to useadevastating"sociobiological"
campaign ofsexand
drugsto emasculate Brazilian
youthandrecruit youngpeopleto theranksof
subversives.Infact,theESGconceptual nemesesso muchemphasized inthe
1950s-"disintegration," and"disaggregation,"
"dissolution," termsthatwere
stillheavily
usedthirtyyearslater-beganto approximateVictoriannotionsof
the"sociobiological ofdegeneration."ll
reality Subversionbecame-tousethe
terminology of oneESG"expert"-a"biopsychosociological" deterioration
ofyoungpeople'sphysical, mental,andpolitical Inthisregard,
integrity. ESG

"SueAnnCaulfield hasdemonstrated thewaysthatproponents of "modernization" in

Brazillinked"women's
earlyrepublican sexualpurity,
defendedthrough patriarchalauthority,
to theadvancementof civilization,
socialorder,andstatepower"(InDefense ofHonor: Sexual
Morality,
Modernity,andNationin Early-Twentieth-Century Brazil[Durham, N.C.:Duke
Press,2000], 8). SusanBesseextendsthisdiscussion
University intothe interwar period,
whenelitesfrettedoverwhatRuyBarbosa hadcalledthe "dissolution" of societythrough
changinggenderandmoralstandards, thoseamalgamated
particularly in the troublesome
"modern woman." Traditionalfamilyvalues-theirchiefrepository anidealized, republican
mother-represented society'sbulwark andpsychological
againstmoral,physical, "degen-
eration," whenit cameto instilling
especially "manly courage" in youngboys.SeeSusanK.
Besse,Restructuring
Patriarchy:theModernization ofGenderInequality inBrazil,1914-1940
(ChapelHill:University of NorthCarolinaPress,1996),2, 102.
"DanielPick,Facesof Degeneration: A European Disorder,c. 1848-1919(NewYork:
Cambridge University Press,1989),3.

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464 BENJAMIN COWAN

elaborations of subversive processes seemedalmostto continuetheBrazilian

tradition ofreinterpreting European and/ordegeneracy
positivist theories for
thepurposes ofnational "advancement" and"civilization."Thenewnational
security incarnation of suchideasretainedthenotionsof policingsexuality
notedbySueAnnCaulfield in turn-of-the-century BrazilandbySusanBesse
in theinterwar both
years, periods when religious, andprofessional
political,
elitestied"healthy," oftentraditional ornuclear, sexualandfamilypractices
to the survival andprosperity of the nation.Perceived impending crisesof
nationaldestinydroveeliteattemptsto regulategenderandintimacyup
throughthe yearsof President GeffilioVargas's EstadoNovo (1937-45).
In the 1960sand1970s,similarly conservativeinjunctions, propounded at
theESG,meantto keepcommunists fromusingsexandsexuality to destroy
theBrazilian stateandsociety.If,asFoucault haspointedout,theexplosion
of sex-related discourse amongVictorians entaileddiscursive creation of the
"hysterical woman,"the "masturbating child,"andthe "perverse adult"as
threatsto bourgeois nationhood, thenESG-based nationalsecurity ideology
underwent a smaller-scalediscursive "explosion" thatinvokeda roughcom-
positeof thesecategories: thepathological, perverted, youngsubversive.12
Thisconceptual stepinvolved feminization and "hystericization" of 1960sand
1970syouth-likethehysterical womenandperverse, gender-troubled men
ofpreceding generations-as society'sweakest, most vulnerable point, often
bydintof sexuality itself,andconstruction of dissolutesexuality andrelated
drug abuse as the means by which communists would rob Brazil's youth
of healthandvitalityand-concomitantly-create perverse,pathologized
subversives!' Infact,rhetoric attheESCexploited allthreemodelsof sexual
pathology. Subversion's sexual agenda, in other words,threatened Brazil's
a
nationalsecurityby engenderingsimultaneously seductive, degenerative,
hysterical,andrevolutionary waveof youth"perversion."
By the late 1960s,Brazilian youthappeared in the annalsof the ESG
asthe nation'svulnerable Achilles'heel,a humanvariantof the "pathsto
penetration" againstwhichGolberydo Coutoe Silvahadrailedin the
1950s."It shouldbe notedthatin the aftermath of the 1964 coup,Bra-
zilianhighschoolanduniversity studentshademergedasone of themost

'MichelFoucault, TheHistory vol.1, AnIntroduction,

ofSexuality, trans.RobertHurley
(1978;NewYork: VintageBooks,1990),104.
'Besseilluminatesthelate-nineteenth- andearly-twentieth-century thatcalled
attitudes
forregulationandeveninternment of the"degenerates"mostlikelyto impedetheemerging
andseemingly nation:"hysterical"
socialhygieneof the Brazilian
essential women,"sexual
homosexuals,
perverts," "bohemian" men,andevensexually activeadolescents(Restructuring
Patriarchy,
86).
"Coutoe Silva's"Aspectos geopoliticosbrasileiros," a themethatthis
essentializing
prominentmilitary ideologuewould echo throughout hisdecades of discursive
production,
mademuchof the necessityfor "plugging" the "pathsto penetration" thatmadeBrazil
to itsenemies.SeeGolberydo Coutoe Silva,"Aspectos
vulnerable brasileiros"
geopoliticos
(ESG,1959),21, ESGBGCF,C-45-59.

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 SexandtheSecurity
State 465

visiblyintractablesourcesof opposition to themilitary regime,whichmade

repeatedattemptsto demobilizepolitically activeyoungpeople.Coincid-
ing withsimilarconflictsabroad,publicclashesbetweengovernment and
studentsintensified in 1968,in Brazilaselsewhere in theworld,capturing
nationalattentionandincensingthe military's hard-lineelements,who
wouldsooneclipsemoderates andsteerthedictatorship intoitsmostrepres-
sivephase.15 the
By 1969, political situation had generated palpablealarm
at the ESG.Nationalsecurity, ESGvoiceschorused,founditselfin a new
crisisof violentupheaval, a "waveof assaults, of terrorism, andsubversive
actions"thathadcometo "infestthe Nation."16 At the baseof thiscrisis,
someclaimed,layyoungpeople'sinnatepassivity, andsus-
irrationality,
ceptibilityto subversive"penetration" through"seduction" and
(seducico)
"enticement" (aliciamento). In fact,thesewords-andthusthe metaphor
itselfof seduction-becamestandards of the discourse, constantlyusedto
describethe waysthatcommunist"activists" exploited the weakness of
Brazilian students,whoinevitably lackedthewillto resistleftistblandish-
ments.Studentsandotheryouths,withoutthetraditionally masculine traits
of rationality, and
logic, boundarysetting,prudence, self-control, made
easytargetsforsuchseduction.17
Asearlyas 1965,twolieutenant colonelsreportedonyouthasnaturally
prone to subversive temptation"bythe veryconditionof theirage."In
a presentation they called"Communism andYouthMovements," these
officersclaimedthatyoungpeoplewere"themostsensitiveorganin the
bodyof . . . society,"an "organ"that,ruledmorebyheady,"passionate"
instinctthanbyrationality, lentitselfto the covert"penetration" of com-
munists.18 EarlierEuropean andBrazilian degeneration theory hadheld that
women'sinnateirrationality andextremeemotionalinstability madethem
therawmaterial of destabilizationandrevolutionary "regression"-inthe
1960s,according to theseESGideologues,Brazilian youthhadadopteda
likerole,lendingthemselves through inherent "passion" and"sensitivity"
to theincursions of communism.19 A 1969termpapersimilarly imputedto
'ArthurPoerner, 0 poderjovem: HistOria
daparticipactiopoliticadosestudantes
brasileiros
(RiodeJaneiro: EditOra Civilizacao 1968).Thisaccountmakesno attempt
Brasileira, to hide
itsprostudentbiasesbutprovides ahelpfulnarration
of theconflictbetweenstudents andthe
regimeupto 1968.SeealsoVictoria Langland,"Speaking of Flowers: StudentMovements
andCollective MemoryinAuthoritarian Ph.D.diss.,YaleUniversity,
Brazil," 2004.
'Jose NicanordeAlmeida et al.,"RelatOrio
do EquipeNo. 3" (ESG,1969),1, 4, ESG
BGCF,TE4-02-69/EQ3.
'For a discussion of suchtraitsas classically
masculine-and diametricallyopposedto
theirfeminine counterpartsof irrationality,
emotion,andimprudence-in Westernsocialand
thoughtseeCharlotte
political Hooper,ManlyStates: Masculinities,InternationalRelations,
andGender Politics
(NewYork:Columbia Press,2001),43-44.
University
18Moacyr Pereirae Octaviode AguiarMedeiros, "0 Comunismo e os movimentos da
juventude" (ESG,Departamento de Estudos,1965)4, 11, 39, ESGBCGF,C4-39-65.
19VVomen, in bothItalianandFrenchtheoriesof degeneration, represented "innatelyex-
tremecreatures" who"bytheirverynaturerushedto thevanguard of disorder"(Pick,Faces

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466 BENJAMIN COWAN

contemporary youthwhatearlier nation-buildingintellectuals

hadidentified
as"feminine primitivism," orwomen'snaiveanddangerous susceptibilityto
pernicious politicalinfluences.20In thepaper,thewritersof "TeamThree"
explained howcommunists manipulated "usefullyinnocent"youngpeople,
whowere"takenin [capturados] attheUniversity andtemptedbyaneasy
lifeofpromising positions andfalseconceptions."' Communist "seduction"
and"enticement," theauthorssuggested,functioned bytakingadvantage
of youngpeople'snaiveteandweakness foran"easylife"(aweakness that
implied failureto endure the of
trials "reallife").Such weaknessmade for
constantvulnerability to communistaggression, suchthatyoungpeople
formeda "docilemass"thatcommunists could"prostitute" and"anopen
doorfor communists to infiltrate."22
Throughthis "opendoor,"youth
wouldexposeBrazilto a sortof geopolitical rape,allowingfor commu-
nistagents'"violation," "penetration," "impregnation," "conquest," and
"control"of the populationat large.23 Youngpeople'stendencytoward
naivepassionandlackof criticalrationality thusmadethemsomething
of a chinkin thenation'sideallyimpenetrable exterior,anorificethrough
whichrapacious communists couldexercisetheirmasculine prerogatives
(violation,penetration, impregnation, andconquest)on thenationalbody.
A 1966 studyentitled"AGuerraRevolucionaria e a subversdocomunista
internacional" (Guerrarevolucionaria and International Communist Sub-
version)madeyouth'sostensible vulnerabilityevenmoreexplicitlygendered,
specifyingstudentgroupsand"women's andyouthorganizations" asthose
mostlikelyto succumbto thecommunist and"enticement"
"infiltration"
thatwouldprecedethe rapeof Brazi1.24 Lackingthe masculine hardness,
rationality,and endurancenecessaryto resisttemptationandviolation,
womenandyouththusliterallyandfiguratively coincidedas the sectors
of Braziliansocietymostlikelyto formthe securitynation-state's softand
penetrable underbelly.
To some analystsat the ESG,susceptibility to subversionstemmed
and from
directly pathologically youth and
sexuality reproductivephysiol-
In a
ogy. September 1973 lecture on campus, Jose
psychiatrist Leme Lopes
soughtto providea "biopsychosociological pointof view"thatwouldshed

93). Brazilian
ofDegeneration, of the 1920sand1930sechoedthesenotions,
intellectuals
blaming"feminine
primitivism" to the
forwomen's(andthevolatilemasses')susceptibility
andsubsequent
"seduction degeneracy" that"threatenedorderandcivilization"
(Caulfield,
In DefenseofHonor,93-94).
In Defenseof Honor,93.
20Caulfield,
'De Almeida do EquipeNo. 3,"3.
et al.,"RelatOrio
22DivaldoPachecode Oliveira,"Analisedo recrudescimento no mundoe no
daviolencia
Brasil,bemcomoassuasrepercusseks nasegurancainterna,
sugerindomedidasparareduzir
ou anularsuascausas" (ESG,1970),49, ESGBGCF,TT4-121-70.
23Col.JoseMachado Bellaset al., "AGuerraRevolucionaria comunista
e a subversdo
internacional"
(ESG,Departamento de Estudos,1966),18-20,ESGBGCF,C1-16-66.
18.
24Ibid.,

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 SexandtheSecurity
State 467

lighton the foundations of whathadcometo be knownas the "youth

problematic" (problenuitica dajuventude). CitingStanleyHall(thefamous
U.S. psychologist andtheoristof "overcivilization" as a threatto adoles-
centmanhoodin NorthAmerica), LemeLopesdescribed youthin a way
thatpseudoscientifically linkedleftistpoliticswithreproductive hormonal
imbalanceandphysiologically basedimprudence. Approximating Hall's
own Victorianterminology, LemeLopes'sdescriptionlimnedyouthas
"thephasein which,the reproductive functioninstalled,[theindividual]
a
passesthrough phase of violent emotional oscillations." Hamperedby
theirnew"reproductive the
function," university studentsof LemeLopes's
accountwerepathologically irrational andthusvulnerable to the"activists"
of subversion.25 Only"functionality in the role of a heterosexual adult"
couldeffectively resolvethe "violent," hysterical emotiveness thatcaused
adolescents'troublesome proclivity forrevolutionary Endocrine
politics.26
upheaval thuscauseda physiological receptiveness to radicalism thatonly
(hetero)sex could resolve, when irrationalyouthsbegan to "function" as
heterosexual adults.
WhereLeme Lopes had emphasized"reproductive function,"his
like-minded colleague Euclides de Faria took a slightlydifferent linguis-
tic-if conceptually tantamount-tack. Faria,a Jesuitpriest,blamedyoung
people'svulnerability to subversionon the "explosionof puberty"and
adolescents'"instinctive sexualimpulsiveness."27 Bothdiscussants patholo-
and
gized feminizedyoungpeople'sbodiesasnatural,scientific sourcesof
a radicalismthat"exploded" out of pubertyandadolescentreproductive
development, a radicalism thatwouldonlybe terminated in "heterosexual
adult[hood]." In this,theESGspeakers implicitly established a dialectical
relationshipwiththeoreticalyouththatmirroreddegeneration theory's
postulationthatwomen'sputative"hysteria" andrelated,disorderly, and
revolutionary irrationality stemmedfrommenstruation andthe"periodic-
ity"of the femalebody.28
LikeLemeLopesandFaria,eminentpsychologist Noemida Silveira
Rudolfer the
pathologized "youthproblematic" sexually as a andphysiologi-
callybased threat to national security.Rudolfer's 1974 lectureat the ESG
blamedyouth"radicalism"-the so-called crisisofmodernadolescence-on
a rangeof putativedevelopmental ailments,from"weakness" (fraqueza)
to-in whatamounted to a bizarreburstof anachronism-"neurasthenia."
According to Rudolfer, radicalism andyouthdelinquency, thefoundations
of Brazil'ssubversive problem, came fromtheseandotherdegenerative

'Jose LemeLopes,"Problematica dajuventude" atESG,6 September

(paperpresented
1973),4, ESGBGCF,T187-73.
26Ibid.,5-6.
27Euclidesde FariaS.J.,"AProblematica
dajuventude"(ESG,1975),29, ESGBGCF,
TE-75.C.PSICOS.T.26B.
28Pick,Faces of Degeneration, 94.

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468 BENJAMIN COWAN

hereditaryconditions: "inadequacy," "somatic insufficiency," "lowmuscle

tone,""homosexual orientation," andeven"excessive or insufficient
va-
pors."29Rudolfer'sverylanguage seemed drawn from a Victorian medical
textbook,likeningtheyoungsubversive to the"nervous," "neurasthenic,"
vapor-beset,feminine-and often female-degenerate of nineteenth-and
early-twentieth-centuryEuropean fame.30Beyondfeminizing young"delin-
quents" and "radicals"as "neurasthenics" with weak bodies and potentially
homosexual tendencies, however,Rudolfersuggestedthatallyouthswere
vulnerableto communistinfluenceson accountof theirverysexuality,
whichitselfthreatened to explodeinto subversion as well as perversion.
"Itseems,"saidshe,"thatthe [adolescent] influxin sexualimpulsestends
to perturbthepsychicapparatus," causingyoungpeople'ssusceptibility to
the unconventional ideasof leftistactivists.31Sexuality, it appeared,drove
youngpeopleto the brinkof psychosis, wheremental"perturbation" led
themdownthe pathof protestandcounterculture. In this subversion-
inducingrole, "increased sexualimpulses"accompanied othersexually
developmental "the
processes: illusorypenis," a "castration complex,"
the "establishment of genitalprimacy," and"incestuous inter
fantasies,"
Adolescentsexuality,
alia.32 then, with its sanity-threatening physicaland
processes,
psychiatric undermined national securitybypredisposing youth
to the "perturbation" thattriggeredradicalism.
Rudolferwasnot alonein linkingthe "crisis"of youthradicalism to
sexandphysicaldegeneration. In fact,spokenandwrittenexcursesat the
ESGpresentedGRandsubversion asindividually andcollectively degen-
erativeprocessesin whichcountercultural, deviant,or "hippie"sexuality
threatenedboth the vitalityand the ideologicalconformityof young
people.Reportsthatnominally purportedto treatthe interrelated issues
of nationalsecurity,guerrilla violence,andthe "youthproblem"focused
on sexuality-usuallyin the formof "pornography," "eroticism," and
"promiscuity"-as a dire and potentiallydegenerative threat to Brazil's
frighteninglyvulnerable youngpeople.According to ESGreports,patho-
and
logical"perversion" "permissiveness" (key recurrent termsin the
discourse) menaced national securityby promotingcommunist-inspired
seditionand-lessdirectly-bysapping youngpeople'sphysical andmental
health,thusdestroying national "lifeforces."
VariousESGtheoriststracedcommunistsubversion andthe doomof
civilization
capitalist directlyto sexualunorthodoxy andimmorality. Di-
valdoPachecode Oliveira's 1970 studyon violenceandinternalsecurity,

29Noemi daSilveira "Problematica

Rudolfer, dajuventudeno Brasil: e psico-
Psicologia
daadolescencia"
patologia (paperpresentedat ESG,17 September1974),11, ESGBGCF,
T241-74.
74ff.
"SeePick,FacesofDegeneration,
dajuventude
"Problematica
31Rudolfer, no Brasil,"
24.
11.
32Ibid.,

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 SexandtheSecurity
State 469

forexample,foundthat"ouryouth'sinquietude. andindoctrination by
communists" stemmedfrom"theproblemofpornography anderoticism."
Pachecoattributed thisproblemto aworldwide "pornographic outbreak,"
a "proliferation of licentiousness" in whichtheWest'sfatally"aphrodisiac
civilizations"weredestinedto "perish."" In Brazilspecifically,
he cited
the "communists' infiltration" of ecclesiasticalpedagogy,where corrupt
nuns"teachto childrenof justfouryearsold . the secretsof sex."In-
steadof defendingthefamily,society'srightfulbulwark againstcommunist
subversion, "infiltrated" organizations and individuals
were usingsexand
"licentiousness" to corruptchildren,distancethemfromtheirparents,and
createfuturesubversives.34
ESGaccountsof communists'sexuallysubversive threatsto national
or internalsecuritydidnot alwaysmatchPacheco'ssensationalism when
it cameto sex-pushing, activistnuns.(Theparticularly stridentPacheco
wentso farasto describethe plasticdollsthatthesedeviantnunsreput-
edlyusedto furtherMoscow'sagenda.)Nevertheless, theseaccountsdid
habituallyreferto destabilization via generallydissolutesexuality.The
corrosive"impactof masscommunication . with its frankappealto
eroticismandpornography," one termpaperdeclared,layat the root of
subversion andthe "youthrebellion,"the latestvariantsof the commu-
nist-inspired "disaggregation" thathadhauntedNSD sincethe 1950s.
Worseyet, the horrifyingly unorthodox"experiences of FreeLoveand
collectivefamilies"represented a "concretethreatto NationalSecurity
itself,"sincetheseunconventional sexualpracticesmovedyoungpeople
to "throwthemselves intoideologiesof totalitarian characterthatleadto
revolutionary struggleandviolence."35 Professors andconference speakers
concurredwith theseexplanations, tracingsubversionto the "insistent
permissionof pornography" andmodernsociety'sgeneral"permissive-
ness"whenit cameto sex.AsProfessor Guilardo MartinsAlvesphrasedit
in 1974, the "moral,political,intellectual, andsexualrebellionof young
people"-led internationally, accordingto ESG experts,by Herbert
Marcuse,the Germanleftistphilosopherandfounderof the Frankfurt
School-represented a subversive attackon nationalsecuritythroughthis
rebellion'sverypromotion of "abuses of thesexact"andof "increasingly
accentuated permissiveness . in relation to sex,"bothof whichthreat-
enedthe "imperatives of the Revolutionof 1964."36The resultsof such
permissiveness, accordingto a 1975 workinggroup,includedthe sexual
hallmarks of youth'sdefectionto the hatedforcesof radicalrevolution:
33Pacheco de Oliveira,
"Analise
do recrudescimentodaviolencia,"
50.
49.
34Ibid.,
'Grupo 'A'RelatOrio: dajuventude
Participacdo naexecucaodapoliticanacional"
(ESG,
1972),2-4, ESGBGCF,SP1-123-72.
36GuilardoMartins brasileira:
Alves,"Juventude Integracdodajuventude no desenvolvi-
mentocomunitario" (ESG,Departamento deEstudos,1974),23,25, ESGBGCF,TEP-74-
C-PSICOS.A.1.3.

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470 BENJAMIN COWAN

. and . [and]publicre-
"promiscuous "37 group publicsex,
relations,
pudiationof marriage.
Pathologization of "perverse" sexualitycomplicated its putativedan-
ger,making"permissiveness" only not the root and result of communist
subversion butalsoa hazardto the mentalandphysicalhealthof Brazil-
ianyouth.Subversion's modusoperandihereinvolvedusingsexto effect
physical and mental illnessthatwouldweakenBrazil'syouthandpredis-
the
pose country to international communism's nefarious designs.Justas
nineteenth-century European narrativesof had
digenerescence described a
progression in
ending "generalenfeeblement, .
depravity, insanity, ..
lostvirility,. andimpotence," subversion in dictatorial
Brazilappeared
asa "sociobiological" processwherebyunconventional sexuality enfeebled
andemasculated Brazilianyouth.38In fact,ESGdiscussants alludedto
the youngsubversive's classically
degenerative naturethroughthe very
modifiers-"sociobiological," "psychosocial," "biopsychosociological,"
and"psychopathological"-with whichtheydescribedwhattheyinvari-
ably called the "youthproblem."" Fernando BastosdeAvila,forinstance,
spoke at the ESG in September 1974 on the "psychosocial problem"of
sexual"permissiveness" and"perversion" in pedagogyandsocialization.
Avila,a Catholicpriest,expressedalarmat the "diffusionof ideologies
of contestation" andof "revolutionary ideologies"by the "devastating
action of Herbert Marcuse." Of greaterconcern (andgreaterpotentialto
createsubversives), however, wasthedamagedoneto childrenby"permis-
sive"education.In a catastrophic patternof physicalandpsychological
degeneration, youngpeoplegrew"prematurely old"andpredisposed to
"ideological problems" throughexposureto theaccelerated socialization
techniques of "Freudian theories"thatignoredthenecessary "parallelism
betweenbiologicalandpsychicdevelopment."" "Perverted" education,
byAvila'saccount,ruinedthebiologicaldevelopment of theseindividuals,
transforming themintosubversion-prone shellsof thehale,robustyoung-
sterstheyshouldhavebeen.A 1975 termpaperconcurred,emphasizing
thecombinedphysicalandpsychological natureof thedegeneration with
whichcorrosive sexuality threatened Brazil's
youth-and hence itssecurity.
Thispaperdescribed thewaysthat"contemporary sexualcomportment"
couldleadto "diseases. . . thatindeliblymarkthe organismforthe rest
of life,physically aswellaspsychologically." Withitsyouthphysically and
psychologically scarredand/or enervated, these authors warned, Brazil
wouldneverachieve"development andthe preservation of Security,.. .

e Desenvolvimento:
37"Seguranca Campo AProblematica
psicossocial. dajuventude"
(term
paper,ESG,1975),3, ESGBGCF,SP3-75/C.PSICOSSOCIAL Gr.6.
74-75.
'Pick,FacesofDegeneration,
"SeedeFaria,"AProblematica 29.
dajuventude,"
religiaoe moralno Brasil"
'FernandoBastosde Avila,"Ideologia, at
(paperpresented
ESG,3 September 1974),12, ESGBGCF,CE-I/74.

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 SexandtheSecurity
State 471

whichwill pushour Countrytowardmeetingits greatdestiny."Argu-

ing for reformof "defectivesexualeducation,"the workinggroupthat
authoredthisdocumentcompileda laundrylistof sexuallybasedthreats
to "securityanddevelopment" (NSD'stwinconceptual pillars,forwhich
the paperwasnamed).Underthe headingof "DiseasesandDrugs,"this
listdemonized"modifications in . . . modernsexualbehavior," including
"thesexuality of consumption," "eroticizing propaganda," thetendencyto
"prematurely initiatethe childin the mysteries of sex,""promiscuity and
and
permissiveness," "free,irresponsible the of
love, corruptor youth."
Suchperversions, the authorsheld,jeopardizedthe bodyandmindof
the young Brazilian"organism," underminingsecurityby enervating
futureBrazilian citizens.'If, in Foucault's account,bourgeoisVictorians
"deployedsexuality" in the service of class interests thatcenteredaround
"thebody,vigor,longevity,progeniture, anddescent,"nationalsecurity
proponents similarly deployedsexuality in defenseof thebodiesandvital-
ity of Brazilianyouth."
OtherESGvoicesneglectedphysicaldeterioration in exclusivefavorof
unconventional sexuality'svirulentpsychological harm,a corollaryof the
mental"enfeeblement" of Victoriandegeneration. An essayon youth's
role in nationalpoliticsreferredto the violent,security-menacing, and
degenerative "insanity" (loucura)brought by on "free love and the col-
lectivefamily."43 JoseLemeLopes,meanwhile, praisedthe dictatorship's
notoriouslyrepressive Institutional Act Number 5 (AI-5)as a warranted
to
response rampant subversion amongyoungpeople-subversionthat,
in theauthor'sestimation, resultedfromthe"neurosis" broughtaboutby
a lamentable "lifting of Victorian sexual taboos." Leme Lopesbemoaned
the "deviantsexualconduct,"the "climateof permissiveness," the "pro-
miscuity,"and-worst of all-the "homosexualism" (homossexualismo)
thathadproducedwhathe called"personal andsocialpsychopathology"
in contemporary youth.Thispsychopathology, LemeLopesexplained,
had led to Brazil'sexperiencewith violent,communist-inspired youth
protests,requiringthe militarygovernment's crackdown in late 1968.44
The sexualattackon Brazilian youththusproduceda destructive trioof
psychological disorder,sappedphysicalvitality,and subversiveradical-
ism-relatedandinterdependent menacesto nationalsecurity.

41"Segurancae Desenvolvimento," 8-9, 35.

'Foucault,An Introduction, 123.
'Grupo 'A'RelatOrio," 3.
44Leme "Problematica
Lopes, dajuventude," 7. Widelyacknowledgedasawatershed inthe
military institutionalization
regime's of repression,
Institutional
Actno. 5 (AI-5)constituted
a directresponse
to thestudentandworker militancythathadgrownincreasingly evidentby
mid-1968. Theactclosedcongress indefinitely,
suspended constitutional
rightsandguarantees,
andgranted sweeping powersto themilitaryexecutive.
Theyearsthatfollowed itspromulga-
tionwerethemostrepressiveintermsof civilliberties
violations
andthebloodiest intermsof
humanrightsabusesandarmedstruggle.SeeMoreira Alves,StateandOpposition,95-100.

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472 BENJAMIN COWAN

SEX, DRUGS, AND ROCK `1\1'ROLL

Communists, it seemed,hadlocatedBrazil's Achilles'heelin thesexuality

of itsyouth,exposingthatcrucialsectorto physical andpsychological ruin
andsubverting youngpeople'spoliticsby means of a campaign of "licen-
tiousness." Sexalone,however,couldnot entirelyaccountforthe "crisis"
of subversion. Rather, ESGnationalsecurity theoristsidentifiedtherootsof
Brazil'ssociobiological, socialpsychopathological, and/orbiopsychosocio-
logicalproblemofradical opposition in a conception of counterculture that
conflatedandpathologized sex,drugs,"loudmusic,"andunconventional
style.Thedegenerative "insanity" likelyto makeyoungpeoplea "concrete
threatto NationalSecurity" stemmednot justfromsexbutfroma range
of relatedcountercultural stereotypes and,rathernotably,froma corrosive,
lethalcombination of sexanddrugs.
If theydidnotloomquiteso menacingly asthescourgeof deviant,pre-
or
mature, "permissive" sexuality,drugs(drogas,tOxicos, or entorpecentes)
nevertheless appeared to
poised sap Brazil'sstrength concomitantly byemas-
its and
culating youngpeople drawing them into thecommunists' subversive
web.Pachecode Oliveira warnedthat"drugsservethecommunists in their
goalofdebilitating theresistance andcorrupting thephysical andmoralhealth
of freepeoples,"typifying a contemporary ESGvisionin whichsubversives
consciously useddrugsto undermine thenation'sfortitude,leavingBrazil
weakandvulnerable.45 In fact,whenit cameto youth,sexanddrugswent
handinhandasenervating andsubversive weapons.MarioFrancoBarrozo,
concernedaboutthe "lifeforcesof thenationthatareouryouth,"fretted
aboutthetorpidity ("physical andmoralinertia") broughton bythecom-
binationof drugsandsex.Suchtorpidity of bodyandsoul,he concluded,
couldonlycreate"easyvictims" wherethereshouldhavebeenvigorous"life
forces."46 A relatively late (1982) studycrystallized thistypeof concern,
summingup waysthe in which anyattempt to "defeat subversion" would
haveto takeon druguseandsex,twinaspectsof a two-pronged communist
strategy.AsAlvarodaSilvae Souzasawit, theKGBhadplansto "introduce
themaximum chaos"intoBrazilian societyby"placing variousdrugswithin
the reachof youth.Habituating adolescents to alcohol andexacerbating
the sexualinstinctby meansof pornographic publications, psychopolitics
[psicopoiltica]cancreateattitudesof slothand[premature] agingin the
youngergeneration, which. . . willopenthe doorsto communism."' In
thisratherconflated view,drugsandsexweredual-action weaponsof choice

"Analise
'Pachecode Oliveira, do recrudescimento 56.
daviolencia,"
'MarioFrancoBarrozo, "AJuventude brasileira nacionais.
e os objetivos Desenvolver
o
trabalho e entorpecentes
o usedostOxicos
focalizando emrelacdo ajuventude"(ESG,1972),
1, 39, ESGBGCF,TT-123-72.
'AlvarodaSilvae Souza,"Trabalho /Vies estrategicas
especial: o homem
paravalorizar
comum,debelara subversdo e contera corrupcdona sociedadebrasileira"
(ESG,1982),
14-15,ESGBGCF,TE-82C.PSICOS.5.48 G27B.

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 State 473
SexandtheSecurity

forcommunist subversives. A combination of the two couldpromotethe

degenerative torpidity-"sloth" andpremature aging-thatwouldfacilitate
a communist takeover throughnewly"opened" doors.
Civilianjudge Joao de Deus Lacerda Menna Barreto madeclearinhisESG
excursusentitled"Drugs,Organized Criminality, and Subversion" thatsuch
drug- and sex-induced "sloth" and turpitude undercut national securitymost
dangerously through the emasculation ofyoung men, a process that immedi-
atelythreatened Brazil'sphysical defensive capacity. Ingeneral, drugstended
to promptthe"dilution ofdiscipline andhierarchy inthemilitary," but,more
they
specifically, furthered "leftist" and subversive goalsby"turning theboys
whoareavailable to servethePatria(futureenlistedmen[soldados]), orthe
boys bound for military academies into
(futureofficers), dependents of the
subversive traffic.. . . Enslavement to drugs. . . inhibit[ed] whatever moral
reserves"thesefutureBrazilian warriors mighthavehad.Drugs,then,would
robBrazilofitsdraftable youngmenbyturningthemintospineless "slaves,"
dominated and"subordinated" bythe"subversive drugtraffickers" whohad
madedrugs"international communism's newestspeciesofweapon." Menna
Barretoconcluded hisspeechbycallingon "theforceof . . . allgoodmen"
to combatthe "virusof disaggregation" thatdrugsthreatened to induce.
Mature men, in other words, uninhibited the
by "weakening" ofdrugs,
effect
hadto stepinto preventtheemasculation of Brazil's newermalegeneration
andthusto savethecountryfromsubversive-inspired chaos."
The pathologization latentin wordslike"psychopolitics," "thesexual
and
instinct,""sloth," premature "aging"reappeared in Leme Lopes,for
whomthe"personal andsocialpsychopathology" simultaneous causeand
consequence of subversion-thathe so luridlytracedto "deviantsexual
conduct"alsoderived,relatedly, from"theabuseof drugs,. . . one of the
mostangst-ridden problems of today'syoungpeople."According to Leme
Lopes,the"principal riskof [drug]use,"especially marijuana consumption,
wastheawakening of a "latentpsychotic process," resulting in a degenera-
tivepsychosis thatcouldonlyterminate in "acompletetransformation in
behavior, . . . anaffective shut-down,. . . andcerebral atrophy." This"psy-
chosis,"the goalof a "subterranean" andglobal"web"of subversives, lay
behindyouth'sdangerously leftisttendencies andthe "crisisin theuniver-
sity,"which-in LemeLopes'seyes-had justifiedthe repressive AI-5.49 A
1975"psychosocial" study of national and
security development shared this
pathologizing perspective, linkingthe subversive conversion of youthinto
a "revolutionary classparexcellence"-again, underthe putativetutelage
of HerbertMarcuse-tothe "increasing consumption of drugs,"a "social
pathology" that "must be treated."50
"Joaode DeusLacerda MennaBarreto,"OsTOxicos, a criminalidade ea
organizada,
subversdo"
(paper atESG,9 October1972),22-26,ESGBGCF,C24-3-72.Menna
presented
Barreto
hadpublished
a bookin 1971on theproblemsof drugsandthelaw.
'LemeLopes,"Problematicadajuventude,"
13, 15.
e Desenvolvimento,"
50"Seguranca 3, 11.

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474 BENJAMIN COWAN

In fact,thissocialpathologyincludedmorethanjustsex-anddrug-
induceddegeneration. Nationalsecuritytheoristsconflatedsubversion,
violence,guerrilla
warfare, andeven"terrorism" withanotionofcounter- or
"hippie" culturethatvisually represented the deterioration caused by cor-
rosivesexuality
anddruguse.Infact,demonization of thesecategories-sex,
drugs,"hippies," "loudmusic,""extravagant clothing,"etc.-as rootsand
resultsofsubversionoftenemerged inthesamediscursive breath.Corrupted
by sexual and it
unorthodoxy illegaldruguse, seemed, subversiveBrazilians
couldbeidentified basedonvisualandaudiblecuesthatincludedlonghair,
beards,jewelry,andloudmusic,amongotherthings.Onegroupof ESG
studentssummedup the "concrete threatto NationalSecurityitself'asa
dangerous"protestthattakesvariousforms. . . fromhypothetical hippie
pacifismto urbanterrorism [guerrilha], from. . . [unconventional] ways
of dressingandstylingthehairto theindividual andcollectivedeliriumof
pop music,fromthe experiences of freeloveandthe collectivefamilyto
hallucinatoryvisionsandpsychedelic flights."51 Forthesestudents,then,
securityfacedchallenges not onlyfrom actual physical violence(whatwould
nowbecalledterrorism) butalsofromchangingmodesof dressandmusic,
and-as we haveseen-fromdangerous newsexualanddrugusepatterns;
all of thesephenomenafell into an overarching categoryof "subversive
activity"(actiosubversiva).52 Jose Leme Lopes'sbiopsychosociological
portraitof subversive-andsubverted-youthlikewiseportrayed"drugs
anddeviantsexualconduct"as butone aspectof visiblysubversive "sub-
cultures,"identifiable
by their their
"longhair,greatbeards, dingy'jeans,'
theirsandals,theirnecklaces,the headbandthatcompletesthe hairstyle
(or lackthereof)."53To LemeLopes,this "conjunction of influences"
(sex,drugs,andvisiblecounterculture) that
generated "personal andsocial
psychopathology" the
againstwhich repressive AI-5 formed an "effective
shield."54Herestylisticunconventionality couldfacilitate repression,iden-
tifyingtargetsnot by theirparticipation in violentcrimeor by somesort
of "psychopathological" diagnosisbutbytheirconformity to an imageof
perversesubversion.55FatherAvila,thoughlessdraconian in hisapproach
to youth"perversion," nevertheless sawit embodiedin "youngpeopleof
the 'hippie'type";andthe 1975 termpaperthathadadvocated "saving"

'Grupo 'A'RelatOrio," 3.
'Ibid., 8.
'LemeLopes,"Problemitica dajuventude," 7-9.
'Ibid., 16-17.
'Indeed,Martha Huggins's research thatsecretpoliceandatrocity
suggests in
perpetrators
theinfamous DOI/CODI(thenational, network
military-controlled ofinternal and
security
intelligenceforces)reliedon longhairandbeardsto blendin withtheirprospective targets.
Likewise,repression itselfcouldinvolvecreating conflatedimagesof a victim'sor target's
supposed perversion-oneviolenceworkerrecalleda missionthatassigned himto spread
rumorsthata target"wasa leftist,. . . immoral,. . . a homosexual,
. . . something
likethat"
(Huggins,Haritos-Fatouros, andZimbardo, Violence Workers,
10, 184).

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 SexandtheSecurity
State 475

youthfromMarcusian "radicalism"alsoemphasized the clearmarkers of

suchthreatsto nationalsecurity-threats that"revealed themselvesin a
seriesof disquieting facts,"including"theuseof extravagant clothing"and
the "scandalous preference fornoisymusic."56
Thesubversive enemythusrangedfroma machinegun-toting,revolu-
tionarybankrobberto the"extravagantly" dressed"hippietype"andfrom
anarmedguerrilla to someonecarried awaybythe"delirium" of hallucina-
torydrugs or of "noisy"pop music.The Beatles themselves-symbol of
Western popular culture thoughtheymay have been-promoted "criminal-
ity"and"subversion," according to MennaBarreto, who,likehiscontem-
poraries, blamed such subversion on a conflated seriesof factors:"laxityof
customspresented, euphemistically, as the evolution of a newmorality, the
rapidityof communications a
emphasizinghippiephilosophy, or the habits
of the Beatles,[and]consistent. . . pornography."57 Here,"subversion"
a
encompassedgeneral culturaldissolution in which communism mingled
with"hippiephilosophy," JohnLennon,andthe "newmorality" created
byimproved communications technology. Theseultimate, fascinatinginclu-
sionsraisequestionsabouttheextentto whichsuchESGconcernsnotonly
revolved aroundthethreatof communism butalsoincludedanxieties about
culturalglobalization andtheperceived excessesofWesternorevenNorth
Atlanticmodernity. SomeESGthinkers conceivedof "subversive" violence
andprotestasquintessentially modern andglobalproblems,transmitted to
Brazilby technology,rapidcommunication, andthe resultantincreasein
contactwiththeNorthAtlantic.Indeed,JoseNicanorde Almeida's1969
termpaper,"Brazilian YouthToday,"associated Brazil'sstudentprotests
of 1968witha globalconspiracy of disruptive, countercultural youththat
extendedover"nearly sixtycountries." the
Beyond ubiquitous"hippies,"
thisgloballycontagious phenomenon includedvariousotherarchetypes of
NorthAtlanticcounterculture, whichdeAlmeidareadilyif somewhat hap-
hazardly listed:"blousons-noirs" (thenamegivento violentFrenchyouth
in 1959), "teddyboy's"(sic;youngBritishrockandrollersof the 1950s),
"vitelloni" (youthfulItaliansocialrebelsnamedaftera 1953 Fellinifilm),
andU.S. "beatniks."58 Writingin 1970,Pachecode Oliveira appended this
list, addingCubanguerrillas, Frenchuniversity students,andthe Black
Panthers, disparate partsof whatPachecocalled"movements of violence"
that"spread to alllatitudes andlongitudes." Pachecospeculated thatrecent
technologies of masscommunication hadenabledthis"newrhythmofvio-
lence,"andheinsistedonitsconnection to the"universal phenomenon" of
"pornography and eroticism thatspread themselves around the world like
a noxiousweed."59 FatherAvilaconcurred,blamingyouth"perversion"

56Avila,
"Ideologia,religiaoe moralno Brasil," e Desenvolvimento,"
7; "Seguranca 3.
'MennaBarreto, "OsTOxicos," 12, emphasisin original.
'De Almeidaet al.,"RelatOriodo EquipeNo. 3,"4.
'Pachecode Oliveira,
"Analise do recrudescimentodaviolencia,"
11, 20, 50.

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476 BENJAMIN COWAN

on the "osmosis" thatoccurredthrough"theculturein whichwe live,of

massmeansof communication."60 A termpaperauthored bytheotherwise
unidentified "groupsix"madetheconnectionbetweenglobalization, sub-
versiveyouth,andmasscommunication evenmoreexplicit,holdingthat
"technological and"rapidity
progress" ofcommunication[had]contributed
decisivelyto theuniversalization
of youthbehavior."Thereductionof the
worldto a "globalvillage"-asthesewritersput it-had facilitated the
troubling of
"universalization" rebellionandthe concomitant(conflated)
crisesof familialbreakdownanddeviantsexuality.61

TOSUBVERSION:
RESPONDING MASCULINIZATION
By1984,ESGnotionsof theperverse subversive hadbeenpublicly codified
inapamphlet published by theNational Commission on Morality Civics
and
(Commissao NacionaldeMorale Civismo, hereafterCNMC),itselfanESG
brainchild.Thepamphlet-helpfully entitled0 QueE Subversito? (WhatIs
Subversion?)-explainedjusthow"professional subversives" fromthe"Com-
munistWorld" soughtto "destroy . . . theWest."Sexanddrugs,almostas
a matterof course,layat the heartof subversion, whoseprimary weapons
included"stimulation of the vice of drugsamongchildrenandyouths";
"thedissemination of eroticismandamorality in standards and
of behavior";
"uncontrollablevice,eroticism,religious turpitude, or
political pornographic
theaterandcinema. . . elements[that]conveneto bringaboutthecorrosion
of bourgeois morality."62LiketheESGvoicesfromwhomwe havealready
heard,and liketheNorth Atlanticsecurity theoristshecited(indicatingsome-
of a
thing hemispheric colloquium when it came to sexualized subversion),
theauthorof thepamphlet, Gen.AdolphoJoaodePaulaCouto,linkedsex,
drugs,counterculture, andcommunist subversion.63
60 "Ideologia, e moralno Brasil,"
religido 13.
e Desenvolvimento,"
61"Seguranca 2-3.
JoaodePaulaCouto,0 QueE Subversiio?
62Adolpho (RiodeJaneiro:MinisteriodaEdu-
cacdo,CommissaoNacional de Morale Civismo,1984),18-19.
"PaulaCouto'scitationsincluded authorslikeBernardHutton(TheSubvertersofLiberty,
1972) andSuzanne Labin (Hippies, and
Drugs, Promiscuity, 1972),provisionally
indicating
thetransnational
dimensions ofconflating"subversion," and"moral
sexuality, deterioration."
Futureresearch
willilluminate the extentof thesehemisphericlinksandresonancesin the
ofcoldwarcultural
construction subversion. Weknowthatsimilar ofsexdeviance,
conceptions
andcommunism
degeneracy, permeated theU.S.politicaltopography,mostfamouslyin the
1950s"lavender
scare." SeeDavidK.Johnson,TheLavender Scare:TheColdWarPersecution
ofGaysandLesbians (Chicago:Universityof ChicagoPress,2004);
in theFederalGovernment
Genderand theMakingof ColdWarForeignPolicy
and RobertDean, ImperialBrotherhood:
(Amherst:University of Massachussetts of suchideasin
awareness
Press,2001).If Brazilian
hemispheric contextis atleastminimally
evidencedbytextslike0 QueE Subversfio?, Valeria
Manzano's researchon 1960sBuenosAiresillustrates connectionsbetweencommunism,
anda similar
sexuality, "youthproblem" in repressive
Argentine projects
political in thatde-
cade("SexualizingYouth: Morality
Campaigns andRepresentationsof Youthin Early1960s
BuenosAires," JournaloftheHistory 14,no.4 [2005]:433-61).
ofSexuality

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 SexandtheSecurity
State 477

PaulaCoutoechoedtheESGdiscourse in another,equallystriking way:

hisconceptualization of thecommunist onslaught asanemasculating force
whosevictorywouldmeanthe subordination of a feminizedWest.Paula
Couto'sturnsof phraseassociated theWest'simminentdestruction with
genderedhallmarks: weakness,softness,accommodation, victimization,
andfailureto react.The "eminently offensive. . . CommunistWorld"
wouldinflictitswillon a "weak,accommodating, . . . [and]defensive Free
World."Subversion meantto "soften[amolecer] the mentalandphysical
vigorof thefreeworld,"sappingitsvitalityandcreating"easyvictims"for
Sovietaggression." HowcouldBrazil'ssecurityforceseffectively respond
to thisdegenerative,emasculatingonslaught of communist sex,drugs,and
counterculture? Whilefurtherresearch mustinvestigate the possibility
of
direct,violentlyrepressive and
responses(arrests disappearances by secu-
rityandpoliceforceson the ground),one overarching exigencysuffused
theideologicalreactionsof PaulaCoutoandthe otherESGtheorists: the
masculinization of Brazil,particularly
of its youth.Proponents expressed
thisgoalin constantappeals for"strengthening," "firmness," "vigor,"and
avoidance of "impotence," "weakness,"and(inevitably) "penetration."65
Intimationsof this rhetoricof masculinization had croppedup in
earlierstatements.As earlyas 1959, AugustoFragoso,the ESG'sfirst
commandant,had alludedto the waysthat GR might attackBrazil
throughits youth,who formedone of whathe called"weakpoints"of
"permeability" to revolutionary tactics."Theresponse"-as Fragoso
titledthe sectionof hisspeechon counterrevolution-had to includean
"offensive" the of
component,namely, "strengthening" youngcitizens'
moralcharacter.66 Threeyearslater,MurilloVascodo ValleSilvacalled
for similarcounterrevolutionary preparation, a reorientation "aboveall
of youth"thatwouldforma "vigorous,strongsociety,thatconstitutesa
homogeneousandunifiedblock."67 Bothof theseearlytractsemphasized
abstractnotionsof moldingyouth into an idealizednational"block"

'PaulaCouto,0 QueE Subverstio? 7, 19.

'JamesN. Greenhassuggestedthatthe military regime'spersecution of sexual"devi-
ants"-particularlyhomosexuals-was limitedto a concernfor avoidingpublicdisplaysof
genderor sexualunconventionality.
LikeDelcioMonteirode Lima,a pioneerof Brazilian
homosexuality studies,Greenconcludes thatevenin therepressive
yearsof Medici'spresi-
dency(1969-74)themilitary government andsecurityforces"recognizedthatprohibiting
homosexualitythroughout theentiresocietywasanimpossibility.
Insteadtheychoseto focus
on erasinganypublicmanifestations
ofvisibleeffeminacy,
assymbolizedin theperformances
of travestis
duringCarnival.Presumably discreethomosexual behaviorwastolerated while
flamboyant wasnot"(Beyond
publicgender-bending Carnival:MaleHomosexuality in Twen-
tieth-CenturyBrazil[Chicago:University of ChicagoPress,1999],232). SeealsoDelcio
Monteiro de Lima,OshomoerOticos(Riode Janeiro: Francisco
Alves,1983).
'AugustoFragoso,"Introducdo ao estudoda guerrarevolucionaria" (speechgivenat
ESG,31 August1959),33, 41, ESGBGCF,C-85-59.
'MurilloVascodoValleSilva,"Guerra Revolucionaria"
(ESG,1962),12,33,ESGBGCF,
C-15-62.

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478 COWAN
BENJAMIN
thatreliedon the masculinecharacteristics of "vigor"and "strength."
Speakingin 1970, PresidentEmilioMedicilikewisereferredto the
need for "strengthening the character[of] the BrazilianMan,"some-
thing thatwouldrequireimplacable"firmness." Medici,in fact,went
into moredetailthanhis discursiveforebears,positingthe men of the
internalsecurityforces-"aggrieved" andself-sacrificing "agentsof this
country'ssecurity"-as masculine, courageous, duty-boundmodels
and
for the "strengthening" and"firmness" so desirableto NSD adherents.
Medicilionizedthesemen,declaring himselfin solidarity withthosewho,
"anonymously and at the riskof their . . .
verylives, fearlessly confront
protest and violence, the liberation of instincts, disrespectfor the
and
law.Thanksto theirsacrifices, we aredefeatingterrorism."68 Herewere
the ideal,masculinefoot soldiersof nationalsecurity:fearless,patriotic,
unyieldingembodiments of the vigor,strength,andfirmnessnecessary
to saveBrazil.
A 1971 ESGcoursereadermadethe meansfor creatingthesemas-
culineagentsexplicit.The cultural"rearmament" (rearmamento) and
"cleanup" (limpeza)of Brazilhadto be accomplished by the trainingof
youngmenin the armedforcesthemselves. In thisschematic, the armed
forceswouldplaythe combinedroleof "schoolandbarracks," a sortof
man-and-soldier-making of
workshop counterrevolutionary citizenry.
It wasa schematicthat,likethe discourseof subversives as degenerates
discussedabove,refashionedsocialtheoriesand ideologiesfromlate
imperialandearlyrepublican Brazilinto anticommunist strategies.Peter
Beattiehasarguedthatbetweenthe 1860s andWorldWarI the armed
servicescameto envisionthemselves not onlyas a bulwarkagainstracial
degeneration but also as a "school" for "civilizing" Brazilianmen and
guarding "national masculine virtue."69During the cold war,ESGtheorists
echoedtheseideasin callsfora masculinizing, anticommunist crucibleof
countersubversives. As Col. GermanoSeidlVidalputit,
As a School,theArmedForcesareanextraordinarily valuable means
of education,contributing to the forgingof citizenship andof mili-
taryreserves, [the]moral,civic,andsocialeducation thatwillgivethe
young man a consciousness of and
right duty, will cultivate civicism,
stimulateknowledge of theHomeland[Patria],createandencourage
moralstandards, . . . andteachpropersocialbehavior. . . . Relatedto
the formation of reserveforces,. . . [thearmedforces]willannually

"Emilio GarrastazuMedici, "Aula Inaugural do Presidente Emilio G. Medici" (speech

given at ESG, 10 March 1970), 20-21, ESG BGCF, C1-123-70.
'Peter M. Beattie, "The House, the Street, and the Barracks:Reform and Honorable
Masculine Social Space in Brazil, 1864-1945," Hispanic American Historical Review 76, no.
3 (1996): 439,463-65.

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 SexandtheSecurity
State 479

sendoff . . . elementswithsolidmoralandspiritual foundation, im-

permeable to the proselytism of [communist] doctrines."
The armedforceswouldthuschurnout a hermetically sealed,"imperme-
able"citizenry composed of dutiful,civic-minded youngmenwhose"moral
standards" wouldimmunize themagainst the"seduction" and"perversion"
that-as we haveseen-threatened so manyof theircompatriots. If theno-
tionof "impermeability" didnotquiteestablish theidealized masculinity of
thesemen,Seidlwentfurther, confirming thatbasictraining, that"crucible
of democracy," wouldfunctionby "toughening andhardening" youths,
the
"transforming ingenuous adolescent into a MAN."71 The "school" of
militaryservice,then, would forgeshiftless youths into an idealbodypolitic:a
"tough," "hardened," "impermeable" cadre of men who combined anticom-
munistvalueswiththe trainingandbodilystrengthnecessary to physically
fightsubversion. Luiz also in
Felipe Azambuja, writing 1971,concurred
de
in conceptandlanguage: obligatory military service,he agreed,mustactas
"abarracks thatformssoldiers. . . anda schoolthatforgescitizens."This
"doublefunction" wouldideally"strengthen" youngmenandendowthem
witha "firm,unassailable will"necessary fornationaldefense.72
At leasta fewESGthinkerswentintomoredetailaboutthe character-
isticsof theseideal,"unassailable" youngmen,paintinga pictureof the
"modelyouth"whosemasculinepatriotism,self-control,robustbodily
andmentalhealth,and avoidanceof perversionwouldoptimallyserve
nationalsecurity.In a directreferenceto the reproductive healthandin-
tegrityof adolescentmen,Alvesspokeof the needfora "eugenicyouth
[mocidade eugenica]. . . disposedto collaborate in theprojectof bettering
society." The word "eugenic"here,suggestingconscious-andpositiv-
ist-control of reproduction, appears primarily to haveentailedabstinence
fromthe degenerative "drugs and abuses of the sexact"thatledto moral
andpoliticaldissolution."Upstanding youngBrazilians, Alvespreached,
shouldrefrain fromsuchpractices outof patriotic, sanitary concernforthe
futureof thepatria.A similaradmonition appeared in the "psychosocial"
studyof securityandthe "youthproblem,"whereauthorsreferredto
the "comforting" presenceof youthswho did notgivein to "ideologi-
calradicalism." A "florescence of Christian virtues"characterized these

'GermanoSeidlVidal,"Projecao dosValores e MoraisnaAtuacao

Espirituais dasForcas
Armadas Brasileiras"
(speechdeliveredin Salvador,
Bahia,6 December1967),quotedin
"Leitura
Selecionada" (ESG,1971),11, ESGBGCF,LS7-123-71,emphasis removedfrom
theoriginal.
13
71Ibid.,
'Luiz Felipede Azambuja, "AGuerra emfacedaSeguranca
Revolucionaria Nacional"
(ESG,1971),34, 37, ESGBGCF,LS9-123-71.
73 "Juventude 23.
brasileira,"

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480 BENJAMIN COWAN

reassuringlyconventional youths,whose"purityandsexualabstinence"
servedas a bulwark againstthe promiscuous, unhygienic,anddegenera-
tiveradicalismof subversives?"'Alveselaborated further,explainingthat
"themodelyouthis anauthentic,simple,steadfast, loyal,generous,hale,
andemotionallycontrolledbeing.Preoccupied withhis individualand
socialdevelopment,he avoidsviolenceandradicalism."75 Focusingon
physical andmental an
vigor creating image pulsedwithvirility,
and that
Alvesheredevelopedanarchetype of themasculinized youthwhowould
guarantee Brazil's in
salvation the face of communist attack.Disciplined,
loyal,strong,healthy,patriotic,andunemotively rational,thisyoungman
hadnothingof the "feminineprimitivism" thatdecadesof degeneration
theory had attributedto women and radicals;Alves's"modelyouth"
but
thereforecouldnot help provewholesomely countersubversive.

CONCLUSION
Masculinizationintheschoolofpatriotic servicedidnot,of course,
military
formthe wholeof Brazil'sresponseto perceivedcommunist/subversive
warfare.Youthsshould,to be sure,ideallylearnto emulatethe "strong
handandincorruptible characterof . . . [PresidentHumbertoAlencarde]
CastelloBranco,"themilitary first
regime's president andaputative paragon
of anticommunist such
Failing emulation,
masculinity.76 however,repression
mustdealwiththosewhooptedfor-or were"seduced" by-subversion.
JoseLemeLopes,aswe haveseen,calledforsuchrepression, laudingthe
infamous AI-5forits"benefit"of silencing protestin Brazil
and referringto
Decree-Law 477-which soughtto isolate,muzzle,andpunishthoseuni-
versitydenizenssuspectedof "organization of subversivemovements"-as
an"effectiveshield"againstundesirable politicaldevelopments.77Likewise,
AlvarodaSilvae Souzaspokeof theneedfor"repressive action"to combat
"psychological warfare"and"defeatsubversion."78 Not allESGthinkers
encouraged government repression-some, includingFernando Bastosde
Avila,actuallyquestioneditsutilityasa government Thevastma-
tactic.79
jority,however,voicedtheirsupportor maintained aninstitutionalsilence
on theissue-a silencethat,asAlfredStepanhassurmised, wastantamount
to tacitapprovalof andcomplicity in violenceandcensorship in
thenameof "national /180 ongoing
security.
e Desenvolvimento,"
74"Seguranca 3-4.
'Alves,"Juventude 35.
brasileira,"
'Silvae Souza,"Trabalho
especial,"24.
77Leme dajuventude,"
Lopes,"Problematica 15-16.
'Silvae Souza,"Trabalho
especial,"33.
'Avila,"Ideologia,
religido 13.
e moralno Brasil,"
"Stepan,Rethinking 51.
MilitaryPolitics,

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 SexandtheSecurity
State 481

Nationalsecurityitself,however,couldprovean elusiveconcept,de-
spitepageuponpageof ESGdocuments thatrepeated itsvague,doctrinal
definition."Subversion," too, thatstandard baneof nationalsecurity,often
seemedto defyprecisecharacterization. Nevertheless, as I havebriefly
discussedhere,therewerewaysthattheoristsand"experts" at the ESG
fleshedout andclarified theirconceptualizations of the securenationand
itsnefarious,subversiveenemies.Drawing onlanguage thatresembled older
discourses of degeneration, and
perversion, military masculinization,some
ESGtheorists limnedsubversion asasexual(dareI say"biopsychosexual"?)
attackon Brazil's youth,onethatthreatened to undermine nationalsecurity
bothby takingadvantage of youngpeople'sdangerous, endocrinological
proclivityforradicalism andby sappingthe physicalandpsychological vi-
talityof the nation'sfuturegenerations.Bythe 1970s,suchtheoristssaw
subversion visuallyrepresented in whatLemeLopescalled"subcultures"
or "deviations" whoseputativedrugabuse,deviantsexuality, anduncon-
ventionalstyle-relatedvices-markedthemas nationalliabilitiesin the
battleforBrazil.Theresponseto thisculturalandpoliticalcrisis,assome
militarythinkerssawit, layin the reificationof the barracksasa "school"
forcreatingthekindof manlycitizenssureto avoid"perverse" subversion
andserveananticommunist andsecureBrazil.

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