Velcro seguro: o guia de saúde sexual para mulheres lésbicas e bissexuais com vulva

Abstract

This experimental project aims to develop a sexual health informational material for lesbian and bisexual women. The material was developed in the format of a fanzine, as a sexual health guide. Aspects such as transmission and prevention of STD’s, safe sex methods, preventive exams and the anatomy of the vulva are approached through illustrations and text. The medical knowledge was provided by doctor Thais Dias, through na interview. Before developing the final product, I have mapped and analyzed academic work and informational materials on communication and health that approached the subject, by using the documental analysis method. After the analysis, I have used the participant observation method to analyze the public response to a product previously developed by me, about lesbian and bisexual women sexual health. The public’s response to Velcro Seguro was measured through interviews with lesbian and bisexual women. The methodologic processes were sustained by Duarte and Barros (2005). Regarding the theoretical aspects, I approach the social role of communication and advertising from three dimensions of discourse, provided by Fairclough (2001). Those dimensions are: language as social practice, discursive practice and text. The results of this research point the absence of governamental material on sexual health regarding lesbian and bisexual women, contributing to the misinformation about the subject. The need for this material is clarified by the positive reaction from the public on the developed material, which content was envisaged as didactic and accessible by the interviwed women.