A bricolage of contraceptive experiences. Challenges imposed to the management of reproductive potential.

Desafios impostos à gestão da potencialidade reprodutiva.

Abstract

In this essay, we discuss about some dimensions of the intertwining in social belonging, gender, generation, race and sexuality in the domains of contraception and reproduction. We propose, from the examination of a biography of a girl from popular classes, a look at the contexts / scenarios, actors, scripts, representations, values on parenting that precede the pregnancy itself, and that end up constituting a set of possibilities and constraints for the management of reproductive potential. This shift carefully illuminates the interdependence between sexuality / affective-sexual dimension and contraception, moving away from the individualistic perspective of “contraceptive choice” commonly present in public policies. The relational dimension underlies contraceptive dynamics and reproductive decisions (pregnancy and abortion). It argues about the importance of developing public policies, especially in the education and health domains, so that to make feasible a process of contraceptive socialization - a fundamental dimension for expanding the field of possibilities of youth trajectories, at least with regard to the reproductive management.