Maria Bonita Group/Brazil

Sylvia Cavasin and Cecilia Simonetti

The Maria Bonita Group, Brazil

The Maria Bonita Group was created in May 1982 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, by six women (Cecilia Simonetti, Lais Tapajos, Nair Benedicto, Regina Lemos, Sylvia Cavasin and Vera Simonetti), for the purpose of producing audiovisuals about women's lives and concerns. All of the group members work on a voluntary basis and have other jobs to earn their living. Two of them are researchers on social issues and four work in journalism, two as editors and the other two as photographers.

The production of their first slideshow, The Pleasure is Ours, in 1982 was self-financed. Dealing with sexuality, the audiovisual brings together the testimonies of several women about the often contradictory feelings they have regarding their own bodies. This audiovisual has received a very positive response and the experience of making it has had profound implications for the lives of the group members.

The Pleasure is Ours was the first slideshow we made. Our idea was to come as close as possible, through the language of audiovisuals, to the reality of women's sexuality. A sexuality which in our experience is often divorced from pleasure and associated with guilt and sin or linked only to the idea of reproduction. We began our work by studying the issue in books, magazines and pamphlets, but we soon realized that the pictures in these materials did not adequately complement the contents. The illustrations were often timidly drawn, and somehow unreal or cold. It was difficult to identify these images with what our bodies are really like. We did not want to use this kind of image in our audiovisual: static, aseptic bodies for scientific observation and explanation. We wanted to use attractive images, which express pleasure and which could be linked in such a way as to create a climate of beauty and a pleasant atmosphere... but, how could we achieve this?

In Search of Images to Express Ourselves

We wanted the quality of our photographs to be professional, but we had few resources for this: we had neither artificial lighting nor a studio. We decided, therefore, that the beauty of our photographs had to lie in their naturalness. It was very difficult to find people who were willing to be models. Some felt that they were too fat, others felt uncomfortable or ashamed even though they wanted to work with us and were interested in the idea of an audiovisual showing different kinds of bodies which do not conform to the stereotyped patterns of beauty. In the end, our "models" came from a rather small circle of people: our children, our partners and, of course, ourselves.

The first photos we programmed to take were about menstruation. However, even though we had adjusted our program of work to some of our periods, the incredible happened: no one had their menstruation on the day we had set to take the photographs. So that day we had to photograph other things. It was a very exciting day for everyone. At last, we were carrying out the work that we had planned and, through this work, we were finally beginning to put into practice what we had theorized about so much: showing our bodies as they really are, without disguises or photographic tricks. This excitement, this happiness came out in the images, so much so, that when people saw them, they commented on the impression of freshness and youth conveyed. (We should add that all the members of our group are between thirty and forty years old.)

Recording the Text

We encountered no difficulties with the text. Contrary to our experience with the photographs, we found many people who were willing to recount their experiences and since these were so interesting, we conceived the text as a synthesis of the original interviews. The first-person narration contributed to giving a confidential tone to what was being said. This helps people to identify with what the audiovisual is trying to say. For the music, we looked for segments of themes expressing ideas and feelings which we could use in place of the spoken word at times, or which could contribute to creating an atmosphere of irony with respect to the images.

The Response

The Pleasure is Ours has been shown many, many times to different audiences: grassroots groups, cultural centers, schools, professional groups, in public events. The first time we showed it was at the Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science, in 1982. We were very nervous and afraid that no one would be interested in it. There were so many people waiting to see it, however, that we had to show it twice. The audience was quite diverse and so were the reactions. We were especially struck by that of a fifty-year old woman who told us, very emotionally, that if she had seen something like this earlier, her life probably would have been much happier.

On other occasions, the audiovisual has provoked difficult situations. Once, when we showed it to a group of psychologists, it created a division between the men and the women. The men indignantly claimed that it gave an extreme portrayal of the issues and they monopolized the discussion, making it difficult for the women to speak up. Only one of the men had a positive reaction, saying that he had seldom seen the issue of infant sexuality treated with such respect.

The audiovisual has usually received a positive response. In a meeting on Women's Health and Nonformal Education, sponsored by UNICEF and the Brazilian Ministry of Health, in October 1984, the majority of the audience expressed regret that the public health services did not provide possibilities to show and distribute this type of material.

In the neighborhood associations, the audiovisual has always been well-received. One grassroots group told us that the showing of the audiovisual had stimulated more reflection on the issue of sexuality than a year of discussion would have been able to do. Another time, a group coordinator wanted to stop the showing because she felt embarrassed by the content. We did not stop it, however. At the end of the showing we asked the women, "Who did not like it?" There was complete silence, until one of the women stood up and said: "I liked the theme, the pictures, everything, very much. At times I felt like it could have been me speaking."

Other Experiences

During 1985, the Maria Bonita Group made an audiovisual dealing with the dramatic experience of women who are beaten and mistreated by their husbands. In this, they synthesize the testimonies of more than thirty interviews with women from different situations. This new experience was another one in which they became involved in a vital way. Cecilia Simonetti recounts: "Many times, while we were doing the research, we experienced violence directed at ourselves, especially in the police stations when we went there to get information. Other times, we could not go on with the work because the testimonies destroyed us emotionally. More than once, we found ourselves crying with the women while we were interviewing them. The home can often be transformed into a very dangerous place." Cecilia concludes: "It is very difficult to deal with the issue of battered women. There are many aspects to it, all of them important. It is impossible to go into all of them completely. Our audiovisual is meant to be only a starting point for a wider discussion of the problem."