THE DIFFERENTIAL VALUATION OF LIFE:

THE INVISIBILITY OF THOSE WHO DO NOT FIT INTO THE STANDARDS

Abstract

This paper aimed to analyze the contributions of Foucault to the studies of gender relations from the work "History of Sexuality I", with a special emphasis on the relations played by deflorated housemaids. To this end, sources found in the Amazon Judiciary Archives dated from 1932 to 1962 were used. In the first moment, a review of the chapters of Foucault's book was presented, tracing concepts that greatly help the understanding of the feminine role in Western societies. In the second moment, we discussed the Foucauldian concepts in the light of the stories of poor working women who lived in Manaus in the aforementioned period, relating the Foucauldian concepts to those worked by other authors with consonant ideas.

Keywords: Gender; Manaus; Judiciary Archive; Biopower.