The first (working-class) part of Don't Call Me Son portrays a permissive, liberal, and loving environment. Pierre goes to parties, drinks, plays in a band, wears nail polish, and makes out with girls while also openly flirting with (and kissing) the male lead singer of his band. Although they live in relatively poverty, Pierre's home is characterized by its close relations of kinship. Though she curses, his mom holds Pierre tenderly; though they quibble, Pierre and his sister display a delicate camaraderie.
When Pierre is introduced to his biological family, the homes become more stylish, the foods more complicated, the environments more luxurious, their inhabitants more conservative. Moving into his new room, Pierre is anxious for his biological mom to find his dresses and lies, saying they are someone else's. Later while shopping Pierre picks a dress, and his new father throws a fit. The film culminates as the freshly formed family goes bowling. Pierre wears the dress and throws the ball effeminately. The father loses his patience and screams at Pierre to behave in a more 'normal' manner. Richard Parker notes that, in Brazil, the performance of masculinity is intimately tied with being perceived as 'active,' one of the main markers distinguishing the good and 'macho' male from the 'passive' female [1]. Pierre's loose, non-forceful bowling style triggers his father insofar as Pierre's failure to assert himself as active subverts local gender expectations.