Men, gender and violence against women: reflections about meanings assigned to males

Abstract This article debates meanings produced by men about gender relations and violence against women. Such reflections were generated from one research about violence against women and primary health care performed at Maceió city. In the research, three men, invited after daily observations, were interviewed at a primary health care centre at Maceió city. The interviews were transcribed, divided in categories and analyzed from the theoretical framework of the feminist perspective of gender in interface with the Discursive Practices and Production of Senses. From the interviews’ speech, we discuss about how men recognize (or not) the unequal relations of power that structure society and how this recognition is reflected in discourses about practices of violence against women. From this, we perceive the need to include men in the discussions about violence against women, based on a critical and analitical look at the gender category.