Descendo o "Podium”: Protagonismo de mulheres ex-atletas de handebol em Manaus

Abstract

The research investigates the protagonism of former female master handball athletes in Manaus, analyzing how this practice contributes to their quality of life and sociocultural integration. Based on Marxist theory, the investigation understands sport as a space of symbolic and material dispute, in which class and gender relations are highlighted and tensioned. The study highlights how former athletes resist the commodification of the body and the social marginalization imposed by aging, using sport as a tool for emancipation and collective belonging. The dissertation adopts a qualitative approach, with semi-structured interviews conducted with former athletes, coaches and institutional representatives of handball in Amazonas. The study examines the historical trajectory of women in sport, the contradictions between sport as a market product and its appropriation as an instrument of resistance, and the challenges faced by former athletes to maintain their protagonism off the court. The results indicate that master handball not only promotes physical and mental well-being, but also strengthens solidarity networks, reaffirms identities and challenges exclusionary structures. It is concluded that the sport transcends its recreational and competitive function, configuring itself as a space for the struggle for visibility and equity. Master handball enables the redefinition of female identity in the aging process, while exposing the structural limits imposed by the capitalist system. This work contributes to the literature by highlighting the impact of sport on social transformation, in confronting class and gender inequalities and in reaffirming women as historical agents in the Amazonian context.