Blessers and Blesseess: sex, affection and consumption in the "new" South Africa

• Grant number: 19/01498-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: April 01, 2019
• End date: May 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Anthropology
• Principal Investigator: Laura Moutinho da Silva
• Grantee: Thais Henriques Tiriba
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 22/10076-3 - Family and conjugality: further inquiries on the blesser phenomenon in Cape Town, South Africa, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

The objective of this PhD project is to analyze the values attributed to South African "sugar relationships" that are established through the mediation of web pages and applications developed for this purpose. It is an intergenerational arrangement in which more resourceful men engage in affective-sexual-material exchanges with younger women. Taking in consideration the historical, social, economic and cultural dynamics that make this type of relationship feasible and desirable, I aim to locate the specificities of the South African case within the broader context of the debates around new (digital) affectivities in the contemporaneity and its trends. This research shows a particularly rich opportunity to revisit classical themes of anthropology carried out in the southern region of the continent.