Separation

The "Amores Comparados" collection combines literature and criticism to analyze everyday life and address the most current themes regarding sexuality. Each volume presents two fictional stories, written by novelist Flávio Braga—one set in the present day and the other at a different point in history. Based on each story, psychoanalyst and sexologist Regina Navarro Lins conducts an in-depth analysis of the issues addressed. "We sought to choose themes of love and sex that are directly linked to people's daily lives. Almost everyone spends a significant amount of time thinking about their desires, fears, and guilt," explains the author. Controversial and original, the collection offers new perspectives on romantic and sexual relationships and assesses the evolution and trends of relationships. "The result is the opportunity to observe our behavior over time, with the intimacy that literature allows," says Flávio. Does jealousy manifest itself in the same way and with the same intensity? More financially independent, are women less emotionally dependent? And how do men react to separation? "Separation," the second volume in the collection, addresses the end of a marriage. Regina and Flávio show how values and attitudes regarding a couple's separation transformed. The first story takes place in Rio de Janeiro in the 1950s. The character Sílvia Maria, a young wife in 1958, sees her desire for separation met with relentless opposition from her husband and society, to the point of forcing her to give up on the idea. Juliana's same desire, today, has a different outcome. Financially independent, she refuses to accept her husband's sexual disinterest and decides that separation is the only way out for them. The stories cover moments before and after the sexual revolution: "There was widespread conformity. However, recently, people's willingness to make sacrifices has been greatly diminishing. Most seek to develop their possibilities and individuality to the fullest, avoiding shaky relationships," believes Regina.