{"id":10997,"date":"2018-01-11T03:59:05","date_gmt":"2018-01-11T03:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=10997"},"modified":"2018-01-12T04:03:38","modified_gmt":"2018-01-12T04:03:38","slug":"beyond-metoo-brazilian-women-rise-up-against-racism-and-sexism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/beyond-metoo-brazilian-women-rise-up-against-racism-and-sexism\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond #MeToo, Brazilian women rise up against racism and sexism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/alvaro-jarrin-417367\">Alvaro Jarrin<\/a>, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/college-of-the-holy-cross-1730\">College of the Holy Cross<\/a><\/em> and <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/kia-lilly-caldwell-429028\">Kia Lilly Caldwell<\/a>, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-north-carolina-chapel-hill-1353\">University of North Carolina  \u2013 Chapel Hill<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Women\u2019s empowerment recently got a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/01\/07\/movies\/golden-globes.html\">big boost at the Golden Globes<\/a>, but the United States isn\u2019t the only place having a feminist revival. <\/p>\n<p>In 2015, two years before the #MeToo campaign got Americans talking about sexual harassment, Brazilian feminists <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global-development-professionals-network\/2015\/dec\/03\/sexism-misogyny-campaigners-brazil-social-media\">launched #MeuPrimeiroAssedio<\/a>, or #MyFirstHarrassment. In its first five days, the hashtag racked up 82,000 tweets detailing the chronic sexual harassment of women in this South American nation. It soon spread across Latin America in Spanish translation as <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/miprimeracoso?lang=en\">#MiPrimerAcoso<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>The viral success of #MeuPrimeiroAssedio spurred a spate of social media activism in Brazil, where despite decades of feminist efforts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/latino\/protesters-end-brazilian-machismo-after-alleged-gang-rape-n584531\">gender inequality remains deeply entrenched<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>With <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/meuamigosecreto?lang=en\">#MeuAmigoSecreto<\/a> \u2013 #MyAnonymousFriend \u2013 women documented misogyny on the streets and at work. Tagging <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/meuqueridoprofessor?src=hash\">#MeuQueridoProfessor<\/a> \u2013 #MyDearTeacher \u2013 university students outed sexism in the classroom.  <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" lang=\"en\"><p>\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CoderGirlsRock\/status\/662997934364078088\"><\/a>\n           <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>          <script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>And when the weekly news magazine Veja described the wife of Brazil\u2019s president, Michel Temer, as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/shannonsims\/2016\/04\/20\/the-hilarious-feminist-backlash-to-brazils-impeachment-fallout\/#28066de26573\">beautiful, modest and a housewife<\/a>\u201d in April 2016, feminists transformed that stereotype into a meme showcasing empowered women. <\/p>\n<p>Temer came to power following <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/09\/01\/world\/americas\/brazil-dilma-rousseff-impeached-removed-president.html\">the impeachment of Brazil\u2019s first female president<\/a>, Dilma Rousseff. Many saw Rousseff\u2019s ouster as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecut.com\/2016\/04\/brazil-sexist-impeachment-campaign-dilma-rousseff.html\">misogynistic<\/a>. Feminists were determined that Brazilian sexism would no longer go unchecked.<\/p>\n<h2>Black women\u2019s bodies<\/h2>\n<p>As race and gender researchers, we\u2019ve been watching Brazil\u2019s feminist resurgence closely to see whether it reflects the needs of Afro-Brazilian women, who <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-latin-america-15766840\">make up 25 percent of the population<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Though the country has long <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/news\/world\/brazils-colour-bind\/article25779474\/\">considered itself colorblind<\/a>, black and indigenous Brazilians are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oxfam.org\/en\/even-it-brazil\/brazil-extreme-inequality-numbers\">poorer<\/a> than white Brazilians. Women of color in Brazil also experience <a href=\"https:\/\/brasil.elpais.com\/brasil\/2016\/07\/14\/politica\/1468512046_029192.html\">sexual violence<\/a> at much higher rates than white women. <\/p>\n<p>For example, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.academia.edu\/28376972\/The_Dirty_Body_that_Cleans_Representations_of_Domestic_Workers_in_Brazilian_Common_Sense\">domestic workers<\/a>, who are predominantly Afro-Brazilian, have been <a href=\"http:\/\/portaldepublicacoes.ufes.br\/temporalis\/article\/viewFile\/8214\/6157\">systematically harassed by their male employers<\/a>. This centuries-old power play dates back to slavery.<\/p>\n<p>Since both of us have recently published books \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucpress.edu\/book.php?isbn=9780520293885\">\u201cThe Biopolitics of Beauty\u201d<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.press.uillinois.edu\/books\/catalog\/78qxh7cs9780252040986.html\">\u201cHealth Equity in Brazil\u201d<\/a> \u2013 examining the impact of Brazilian medical practices on black women, we are particularly interested to see if Brazilian feminists will tackle two issues that particularly affect black women: health care and plastic surgery. <\/p>\n<p>These may seem unrelated to each other and to black women\u2019s rights, but in Brazil they are deeply intertwined. All Brazilian citizens get <a href=\"https:\/\/www.constituteproject.org\/constitution\/Brazil_2014.pdf\">free medical care<\/a> under the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.brasil.gov.br\/saude\/2009\/12\/sus\">Sistema \u00danico de Sa\u00fade<\/a>, the national health care system.  <\/p>\n<p>Despite universal access to health services, black women do not always receive the best care. Though Brazil\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.press.uillinois.edu\/books\/catalog\/78qxh7cs9780252040986.html\">colorblind approach to health<\/a> has resulted in scant documentation of differential health outcomes by race, one study found that black women are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffpostbrasil.com\/2017\/09\/28\/por-que-a-criminalizacao-do-aborto-mata-mais-mulheres-negras_a_23226664\/\">two and a half times more likely to die from an unsafe abortion than white women<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>The startling discrepancy probably reflects a lack of high-quality prenatal and obstetric care for black women, which is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/nothing-protects-black-women-from-dying-in-pregnancy-and-childbirth\">a problem in U.S. hospitals as well<\/a>. Discriminatory treatment by medical professionals, which includes a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.press.uillinois.edu\/books\/catalog\/78qxh7cs9780252040986.html\">lack of attention to the specific health needs of black Brazilians<\/a>, also factors in.<\/p>\n<p>Black activists have also pointed out for decades that Afro-Brazilian women have higher rates of sterilization and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.saude.sp.gov.br\/resources\/instituto-de-saude\/homepage\/temas-saude-coletiva\/pdfs\/nascer.pdf\">abortion<\/a>, which in Brazil is mostly illegal \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.guttmacher.org\/fact-sheet\/abortion-latin-america-and-caribbean\">and thus very risky<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Overall maternal health is also markedly worse among black women. In Brazil\u2019s impoverished northeast, which has the country\u2019s highest concentration of African descendants, black women are <a href=\"http:\/\/bvsms.saude.gov.br\/bvs\/publicacoes\/saude_brasil_2013_analise_situacao_saude.pdf\">10 to 20 times more likely to die in childbirth than white women<\/a>. <\/p>\n<h2>The \u2018negroid nose\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Medical doctors may neglect black Brazilian women, but plastic surgeons pursue them. Since the 1960s, Brazilian <a href=\"http:\/\/www.iip.org.br\/instituto.html\">cosmetic surgery has been included in Brazil\u2019s national health care system<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>In Brazil, white beauty standards remain the cultural ideal. That means many Brazilian plastic surgeons operate on the basis that more European features \u2013 facial features in particular \u2013 are better. <\/p>\n<p>Specifically, our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucpress.edu\/book.php?isbn=9780520293885\">research<\/a> has found, they tend to target black women\u2019s noses, which they deem a \u201cproblem feature\u201d in lectures, publications and websites. <\/p>\n<p>In conversation, some doctors even expressed their belief that the \u201cnegroid nose\u201d is a \u201cmistake\u201d caused by racial mixing. Fortunately, they would add, it\u2019s nothing a nose job can\u2019t fix. <\/p>\n<p>This occurs within a broader culture, <a href=\"https:\/\/psychcentral.com\/blog\/why-do-women-hate-their-bodies\/\">familiar to women worldwide<\/a>, of bombarding all Brazilian women with opportunities to \u201cimprove\u201d their imperfect bodies. Brazilians are among the top consumers of plastic surgery <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/brucelee\/2016\/08\/08\/in-plastic-surgery-brazil-gets-the-silver-medal-behind\/#57ad40333642\">in the world<\/a>. It is estimated that more than a million cosmetic procedures are carried out <a href=\"http:\/\/g1.globo.com\/bemestar\/noticia\/2016\/08\/cai-numero-de-plasticas-no-brasil-mas-pais-ainda-e-2-no-ranking-diz-estudo.html\">every year<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Some Brazilian plastic surgeons refer to their jobs as helping women achieve \u201cthe right to beauty.\u201d When, in 2016, a famous plastic surgeon who promoted this idea died, his obituary read like that of a <a href=\"http:\/\/brasil.estadao.com.br\/noticias\/geral,medicos-lembram-criatividade-dedicacao-e-generosidade-de-ivo-pitanguy,10000067567\">national hero<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>And since most plastic surgery is covered under Brazil\u2019s public health system, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucpress.edu\/book.php?isbn=9780520293885\">our research uncovered<\/a>, surgeons have found it lucrative to develop procedures targeting the entire topography of the female body. <\/p>\n<p>Treatments that aren\u2019t paid by insurance come with <a href=\"http:\/\/g1.globo.com\/bemestar\/noticia\/2014\/09\/parcelamento-financiamento-e-ate-consorcio-ajudam-pagar-plastica.html\">long-term payment plans<\/a>. For the poorest patients, doctors have made plastic surgery accessible by exchanging their professional services for permission to use these operations as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucpress.edu\/book.php?isbn=9780520293885\">teaching exercise for young medical residents<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Taking online to the ground<\/h2>\n<p>Historically, feminist critiques of this industry were largely subdued. But plastic surgery is now in the spotlight of Brazil\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/indepth\/features\/2015\/11\/women-spring-blossoming-brazil-151130060146749.html\">Women\u2019s Spring<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>In October 2017, one of Brazil\u2019s biggest newspapers, Folha de S\u00e3o Paulo, ran <a href=\"http:\/\/www1.folha.uol.com.br\/equilibrioesaude\/2017\/10\/1925738-mulheres-encaram-laser-e-cirurgia-por-vulva-ideal.shtml\">an article<\/a> extolling the \u201cideal vulva\u201d and describing the surgical interventions necessary to attain it. Women <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/clarissapassos\/estetica-vaginal-debate-folha?utm_term=.froQxyP4#.cxNd4DVA\">lambasted the piece on social media<\/a>, calling it \u201cabsurd,\u201d \u201cunacceptable\u201d and \u201csad.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The assumption that some vaginas are more desirable than others, feminist commentators <a href=\"https:\/\/www.revistaforum.com.br\/2017\/10\/10\/folha-apanha-nas-redes-por-conta-de-materia-sobre-vulva-ideal\/\">pointed out<\/a>, imposes the male gaze on the female body. Additionally, <a href=\"https:\/\/superela.com\/cirurgia-na-vulva-feminismo\/\">they argued<\/a>, the article\u2019s emphasis on \u201cpink\u201d vaginas and its suggested use of skin-whiteners was patently racist. <\/p>\n<p>Black feminist bloggers likely <a href=\"http:\/\/blogueirasnegras.org\/2014\/03\/06\/racismo-disfarcado-de-ciencia\/\">started this particular line of critique<\/a>. As early as 2014, they were denouncing Brazilian cosmetic surgery as \u201cracism cloaked as science.\u201d Plastic surgeons, wrote Gabi Porf\u00edrio in a June 2014 post on <a href=\"http:\/\/blogueirasnegras.org\/2014\/03\/06\/racismo-disfarcado-de-ciencia\/\">Blogueiras Negras<\/a>, have become \u201cexperts at using demeaning terminology for the noses of black people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But in a country where only <a href=\"https:\/\/g1.globo.com\/economia\/noticia\/mais-de-63-dos-domicilios-tem-acesso-a-internet-aponta-ibge.ghtml\">63 percent of households<\/a> have internet access, black feminists also have also used more traditional forms of protest to engage women of color. <\/p>\n<p>A year before the the hashtag #MeuPrimeiroAssedio would go viral, black feminists began working across Brazil to organize women who don\u2019t generally participate in activism. Their efforts culminated in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telesurtv.net\/english\/news\/Black-Women-March-Against-Violence-in-Brazil-20151118-0049.html\">Black Women\u2019s March Against Racism and Violence and in Favor of Living Well<\/a> in Brasilia, the capital. <\/p>\n<p>There, 50,000 Afro-Brazilian women of all ages and backgrounds came together to denounce violence against black women \u2013 not just sexual violence but also deadly abortions, <a href=\"http:\/\/brasil.estadao.com.br\/blogs\/inconsciente-coletivo\/a-dura-realidade-da-mulher-nas-prisoes-brasileiras\/\">mass incarceration<\/a> and medical neglect. It was the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/10.2979\/meridians.14.1.06\">first ever national march of black Brazilian women<\/a>. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center \">\n            <img alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/201562\/original\/file-20180110-46700-10x0opo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\"><figcaption>\n              <span class=\"caption\">The first-ever national march of black Brazilian women had \u2018living well\u2019 as a central demand.<\/span><br \/>\n              <span class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"source\">Brazilian Ministry of Culture<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In a country that has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/roomfordebate\/2014\/10\/23\/what-should-brazils-next-president-do\/addressing-inequality-will-be-a-long-struggle-in-brazil\">long ignored inequality<\/a>, the protest put race squarely on the feminist agenda. By contrasting the diverse forms of violence black women face with the idea of \u201cliving well,\u201d the Black Women\u2019s March voiced an alternative vision of racial and gender justice for Brazil.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/89117\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/>In doing so, they join #MeToo, #MeuPrimeiroAssedio and a whole chorus of female voices around the globe. Online and on the ground, Brazilian feminists demand equity from the surgeon\u2019s table to the office.<\/p>\n<p><span><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/alvaro-jarrin-417367\">Alvaro Jarrin<\/a>, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/college-of-the-holy-cross-1730\">College of the Holy Cross<\/a><\/em> and <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/kia-lilly-caldwell-429028\">Kia Lilly Caldwell<\/a>, Associate Professor, African, African American, and Diaspora Studies, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-north-carolina-chapel-hill-1353\">University of North Carolina  \u2013 Chapel Hill<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>This article was originally published on <a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a>. Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/beyond-metoo-brazilian-women-rise-up-against-racism-and-sexism-89117\">original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alvaro Jarrin, College of the Holy Cross and Kia Lilly Caldwell, University of North Carolina \u2013 Chapel Hill Women\u2019s empowerment recently got a big boost at the Golden Globes, but the United States isn\u2019t the only place having a feminist revival. In 2015, two years before the #MeToo campaign got Americans talking about sexual harassment, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":10998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[3473,3840,804,3839,1180,671,2552,1538,1976],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10997"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10997"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10999,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10997\/revisions\/10999"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}