Lourdes Garcia-Navarro writes for NPR:
A semi-naked woman in a sequined Carnival costume. A veiled woman with only her eyes showing in a niqab. Two stereotypes of two vastly different regions — Latin America and the Middle East.
On the surface, these two images couldn’t be more diametrically opposed. What could the two have in common, right? What a woman wears — or what she doesn’t wear, in Brazil’s case — is often interpreted as a sign of her emancipation. The veil, for many, is a symbol of female oppression; the right to wear a bikini, one of liberation.
As a woman and a foreigner who lived in Baghdad and Cairo and worked throughout the Middle East for years, I always felt the need to dress modestly and respectfully. Frankly, my recent move back to Latin America was initially a relief. Brazil is the land where less is more — and it was wonderful to put on whatever I wanted.
But underneath the sartorial differences, the Middle East and Latin America’s most famously immodest country both impose their own burdens on women in the way they are treated and perceived.
On a recent balmy afternoon, I was sitting at a seafront kiosk watching Brazil’s carnival coverage on the biggest broadcaster here, GLOBO. Suddenly, a naked woman popped onto the screen during a commercial break. She was wearing nothing. Literally nothing except a smile and some body glitter. Called the “globeleza,” she is the symbol of GLOBO’s festival coverage, and she appears at every commercial break.
Later programming showed a contest where women from various Samba schools — all of them black — were judged on their dancing and appearance by a panel that was all white. They all had their measurements read out for the crowd. But when one woman said she was studying at one of Brazil’s premier petrochemical departments to eventually work in the oil and gas industry, the male judge smirked in surprise.
And that’s the thing about Brazil: It has a female president, and women are well-represented in the work force. This isn’t Saudi Arabia, where women cannot drive, or Afghanistan under the Taliban, where women could not study.
And yet it is one of the most dangerous countries to be female in.
Statistics show that about every two hours a woman is murdered in Brazil, a country with the seventh highest rate of violence against women in the world.
This juxtaposition of sex and violence isn’t new, according to Rosana Schwartz, a historian and sociologist at Mackenzie Presbyterian University in Sao Paulo. Brazil imported more slaves than any other country in the Americas, and slavery was only abolished in 1888.
“The female slaves were used as sexual objects to initiate the master’s son’s sexuality or to satisfy him. And the result has been that until today, Brazilian women are seen in a sexist way, in a more sexualized way, because she was used as a sexual object for so long,” Schwartz says.
The legacy still affects women of every class and race here.
Hyper sexual Carnival atmosphere has a dark side for Rio’s women
This notorious festival encourages the objectification of women
…The ‘sexier’ you look the better; a big butt, generous breasts and flat stomach are practically mandatory – especially for the drum queens who dance in front of the samba bands, keeping them motivated with their dancing and yes, their bodies.
Let’s shoot straight: this is objectification of women in its truest form. Using a woman as a figurehead to keep up the spirits of male troops following behind is simply using her. Complete nudity is acceptable, sometimes desirable. But even the least revealing outfits for this position are as small as thong bikinis.
No doubt dancing and walking with a smile on your face for an hour and a half is hard work, a way to celebrate culture and Carnival, and even perhaps a way of feeling empowered, but all that time the woman is dancing she is seen as an object. Her measurements have to be right, perfect, sometimes even “fixed” and inflated by surgeries. She must be an incarnation of the ideal.
Every year the main broadcasting network in Brazil hosts a popular election to choose the Globeleza – a combination of the word ‘Globo’ (the name of the channel) and ‘beauty’ (beleza). The chosen woman is shown dancing naked during advert breaks until the end of Carnival. This is a long-time tradition, and the fact that it’s endorsed by the most watched channel in the country is worrying.
From early childhood, girls watch this nudity on TV as if it’s the norm, as if it’s the highest form of success.
And as for little Brazilian boys the dream is to become a footballer, the dream for little girls is to become a drum queen or a Globeleza.
This idea that women are objects combined with the free-for-all environment of Carnival can have ugly results. During the weeks of the party there is an increase in sexual violence and hate crimes, according to the Observatory of Racial Discrimination, Violence Against Women and LGBT 2012.
There were 429 reported cases of racism, sexism and homophobia in the 2012 Carnival in Salvador, Bahia – an increase from 2011 when 350 cases were recorded. 153 of 2012’s incidents were violence and abuse towards women, bringing out the thinly veiled misogyny that is deeply entrenched in the Brazilian society.
When men approach women on a normal night out in Brazil, it is typically in a belligerent and sometimes invasive fashion; in Carnival it can be even worse. Men often feel up women as if it’s nothing and kiss them against their will, because they feel they have the right to. Perhaps they consider it a joke, or an expression of their “freedom” but this behaviour can escalate to something far more serious. In 2012, the number of rapes in the state of Rio de Janeiro grew by 24 per cent in comparison to the previous year. From January to November 5,542 rapes were reported, in comparison to 4,467 in 2011.
Though this increase might be explained by more women reporting sexual crimes than before, the figure is nevertheless scary. And if this high number only counts the reported rape, who knows how high the real figure is?
Carnival is meant to be a party for all, but it is also, unfortunately, an opportunity for abuse. There is little education or government action to counter it, and women are treated like objects left and right. Sexual violence is an ugly angle from which to consider the biggest party in the world, but it is also true and should be pointed out every year so that maybe one day the party will be safe for every gender, race and sexual orientation.
LINK:
“Globo TV, I am not one of your nêgas”: Afro-Brazilian woman reacts to latest TV show that reduces black women to their sexuality
Note from BW of Brazil: Sound the alarm, for there’s another fire brewing in Brazil! Once again, the object scorn is the long time nemesis of the Afro-Brazilian community, the television giant Globo TV network. Here at BW of Brazil, since the beginning, we have given example after example of how the image of black women and black Brazilians in general are minimized, stereotyped and made to look utterly ridiculous for the whole country to see; in fact, as Globo’s reach is international, these consistent spectacles are put on for the WHOLE WORLD to see! Brazil’s extremely Eurocentric, blond obsessed media has always sought to keep black women in the “places” that Brazilian society has traditionally reserved for them: the kitchen or the bedroom. Every year, we see naked brown flesh put on display in the one and only time of year that black women are visible: Carnaval. We’ve seen the horrid black faced portrayals. We saw the contest in which black women competed to dance naked on television. We’ve seen them play the secondary role in near silence even in the kitchen, which is supposedly their domain.
And this is every time they are seen at all.
One study recently showed that Afro-Brazilian women only made up about 4% of the protagonists in Brazilian films. And we also know that Afro-Brazilians in general are rarely ever more than 10% of any cast of Brazil’s decades-long success run with the ever popular novelas (soap operas). We’ve seen stereotypes of black women sexuality used to sell beer and we’ve seen campaigns that have re-enforced the Brazilian racist idea that natural black hair is bad. Well, nothing’s changed. As a matter of fact, the Globo TV network is upping the stakes with a new TV series that plays directly into the national stereotype of the hyper-sexual negra or mulata. In fact, the show is actually called Sexo e as nêgas, which could be translated as something like “sex and the negresses”. This new program which hasn’t even debuted yet is the precise reason that black women called for a more dignified representation in the mass media. The media continues to ignore this demand, so black women are coming out to express their outrage.
Below is short intro to what’s shaping up to becoming a battle; stay tuned as we will continue the developments on this latest slap in the face of the black community!
Hey Globo, I’m not one of your nêgas!
By Laila Oliveira
The feeling of indignation made me reflect on this constant and secular sexualization that is imputed upon us black women; an image that has been sustained for decades by the Brazilian literature, the media and by songs in the cultural industry responsible for the cultural construction of stereotypes in the popular imagination such as the hot negra, the moreninha (little brown girl) of the color of sin or the mulata tipo exportação (mulata of the exportation type). I almost fell backwards to learn the newest work of Globo (TV) art, another blow of the racist media, the production of the series created by Miguel Falabella, Sexo e As Negas (Sex and the Negresses) parodying the famous Sex and the City.
The series still has no release date, and according to the author, the version will take place in Cordovil, in Rio de Janeiro. It will consist of a quartet of carioca (Rio natives) friends composed of a maid, a cook, a worker and a seamstress who will experience dilemmas and obstacles to achieve their true goal which is the conquest of a sexual partner.
R. Venturelli, American Renaissance, November 5, 2015:
For many Americans, Brazil means Rio de Janeiro, Carnival, pretty women, and a mixed-race land of no racial tension. This makes Brazil a potential model for the United States: Immigration from the Third World will enrich us and miscegenation will make us one. In fact, Brazil is a nation of low average intelligence, very high crime rates, an aversion to work, and widespread corruption. It is precisely the multi-racial nightmare we must avoid.
The average IQ in Brazil is 87, which is lower than Mexico’s 88.[1] Fifty percent of college students are said to be functionally illiterate–they cannot understand even a basic newspaper or magazine article.[2] With 50,000 murders a year, Brazil comes close to having the highest murder rate in the world: 25.2 per 100,000. For South Africa, the figure is 31; for the United States, it is five.[3]
The Portuguese word for work (trabalho) used to mean “instrument of torture,” and as soon as they have the means, Brazilians do as little of it as possible. They hire people to put gas in their cars. In restaurants, waiters literally stand at your table to cut slices of pizza and put them on your plate. Maids do dishes, wash clothes, cook, and help children with homework.
Corruption is endemic. A common expression is jeitinho brasileiro or the “little Brazilian way,” which means the deeply rooted tradition of taking advantage of others and breaking the rules. Politicians reflect their society, so huge corruption scandals are almost daily news. Brazil’s racial history explains much of its national character…
It was common for the sons of slave owners to have their sexual initiation with slave women. This may be the origin of the sexual promiscuity common in Brazil, though actual marriage among slave owners was usually with whites.
Youthful escapades produced a mulatto class, which often led to a rise in the mother’s status and sometimes emancipation for the children. Mulattos naturally tried to draw distinctions between themselves and enslaved blacks. At the same time, mulattas were seen as much more sexually available than the few, usually Catholic and conservative European women. This is the origin of the almost cult-like carnival symbol of the sensuous, naked mulatto woman.
After independence from Portugal, the ruling class decided that the country would be better if it were whiter. Upper-class Brazilians were embarrassed by foreign travelers who, noting the huge number of slaves and heavily-mixed free population, described Rio de Janeiro as an African city. However, slavery was a huge obstacle to European immigration. Poor whites could not compete with unpaid slaves, who worked in all types of industries and even as low-ranking police officers.
Brazil’s economy was dependent on slaves, so abolition would cause chaos and anger the slave masters. Emperor Dom Pedro II therefore decided to end slavery slowly. He abolished the slave trade in 1850 and tried to promote European immigration. It was not long thereafter that approximately 10,000 Confederates fled Reconstruction, settling the town of Americana in São Paulo state, where they hold annual celebrations of their Confederate heritage to this day…
The Brazilian Republic continued the racial policies of the Empire, importing large numbers of Europeans to make Brazil whiter and replace black labor. Indentured servants worked for a fixed period before being granted land. At first, most immigrants came from Portugal, Spain, Italy and Germany. Later, a more limited number of Slavs and a considerable number of Japanese arrived.
The demographic transformation was remarkable. According to the 1940 census, 63.47 percent of the population identified as white–up from 38.17 percent in the first census, taken in 1872…
For the first time, there were enough women immigrants to make endogamy common. Immigrants married and lived among themselves, retaining their folkways and languages. There was no dominant culture and therefore no assimilation to a larger whole. Brazil was still a broad geographical area with little cohesion and a weak federal government. States had almost complete autonomy and even imposed tariffs against each other…
European immigrants came in such numbers that the Portuguese elite were quickly outnumbered. They may also have been less competitive than the newcomers because of many generations of inbreeding. This decline explains why there are so few Portuguese surnames in the Brazilian upper class today. Instead, Portuguese names such as “Silva” and “dos Santos” are more common among non-whites and the poor.
This is especially striking in the South, which was sparsely populated, and where the demographic change was almost complete. Many small municipalities in the South still recognize Italian or German as an official language. In the 1940 census, the three states of the South–Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, and Santa Catarina–respectively had populations that were 86.6, 88.7, and 94.4 percent white…
In 1930, Getúlio Vargas took power in a coup that became known as the 1930 Revolution, and implemented nationalist measures designed to turn Brazil into a unified nation. He wanted to break up ethnic enclaves of European immigrants who hired and married each other, and refused to learn Portuguese.[13] He established ethnic quotas on immigrants to stop the growth of these enclaves, and required that employers ensure that their workforces were at least 60 percent native-born Brazilians. These measures effectively ended the era of mass immigration…
To promote a national identity, Vargas limited the autonomy of the states, ordered all state flags burned, and promoted cultural unification. He forbade the use of languages other than Portuguese in public, banned ethnic clubs and schools, and “Brazilianized” surnames and names of institutions in the hope of forcing Europeans and Japanese to integrate rather than maintain their own communities.
Vargas’s measures were inspired at least in part by the policies of the Axis powers, with which he had good relations.[14] Ironically, his nationalist attempts to unify the country damaged his relations with Italy, Germany and Japan. There were many Hitler Youth chapters in Brazil, as well as Italian clubs that worked to preserve national loyalty, and some members opted to return to Europe rather than integrate.
Vargas continued the eugenic policies of the previous republic and prevented the promotion of Army officers with clear African ancestry. Vargas celebrated such things as Race Day and Fatherland Week, and noted in a radio speech on September 7, 1938, that:
A rapid solution needs to be found for the question of strengthening the race, one that guarantees the cultural and eugenic preparation of the generations to come. . . The celebrations of the Fatherland and the Race must therefore show beyond any doubt our struggle to elevate the cultural and eugenic level of the youth. . . For a united Brazil, for a great Brazil.[15]
There is an interesting anecdote from shortly after President Vargas’s coup d’état. Spanish nobles of the same name asked the Pope to check baptism records to see whether Mr. Vargas was a relation. He asked that the research not be carried out for fear of what might be found in his family tree: “In Brazil we always expose ourselves to the risk of ending up in the jungles [being part Indian] or the kitchen [being part black].”[16]
There was a strong fascist movement called Integralismo, which arose outside of Vargas’s control and promoted the idea of a “Brazilian race.” Its more radical elements argued that genuine Brazilians were a mixture of whites, blacks, and Indians, and that only complete mixture would bring forth the true Brazilian race. The movement did not last long, but it influenced many patriotic Brazilians, and its ideas of mixture remained influential.
Despite Vargas’s racial nationalism, his attempts at imposing cultural unity stopped the flow of European immigrants, and the percentage of whites declined after the 1940 census. As of the 2010 census, only 47.7 percent of the Brazilian population calls itself white.
