How the LGBTQIA+ community transformed a misogynistic insult into a collective affirmation that is even in the soap opera

Baghdad, Xamã’s character in ‘Três Graças’, enters the scene and his sense of style is immediately noticed: t-shirts with a lion image, fur coats (with animal print, of course), and maximalist jewelry, among other items. If it’s at his home, in the fictional Chacrinha community, the visual follows a pre-established script, with leopard-patterned rugs and feline statues. This characterization caught the attention of viewers, who started calling him ‘traficunt’ – adopting the term that has been gaining popularity on the internet in recent years. Synonymous with vulva and used as a misogynistic insult, ‘cunt’ was once considered one of the most offensive words in the English vocabulary. However, it gained a new meaning from ballroom and queer culture, becoming a code of power and subversion. While not erasing its original offensive intent, it now operates as a ‘collective affirmation’ of the LGBTQIA+ community.