Carolina's diary provides evidence that gender presupposes a category of destiny and experience that is determined by the favela. In this regard, David St. Clair's introduction to the diary includes reportage of Carolina's leaving the favela upon publication of her diary:
She had used the first proceeds from the suburbs. But the
neighbors had other ideas. They swarmed around the truck and
wouldn't let her leave. "You think you are high class now,
don't you, you black whore," shouted one man. "You write
about us and make lots of money and then leave without
This episode illustrates that a woman who tries to escape from the trap of the favela may be attacked on sexual as well as other grounds. On one hand she may be called names of the kind only reserved for wom
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