Gender+and+Sexual+Expression+in+Brazil

=Background = Brazilian Carnival, like other Carnivals, begins the Friday before Ash Wednesday and continues until Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday. Brazilian Carnival (spelt Carnaval in Portuguese) takes place in different states, the largest and most well known occurring in Rio de Janeiro. In addition, to Rio de Janeiro, Carnaval celebrations happen in Bahia, São Paulo, Pernambuco, Vitoria, and others. Each state that has Carnaval has distinct styles that will differ from the rest, which are accounted for in the rhythms and music played during the festivals, participation, and costumes worn.

Carnavals are a place for people to reverse their social role in society; they are able to become somebodies during Carnaval, as opposed to nobodies. It is a rite of passage for Brazilians, and it inverts social norms (Ergood, 1991; Lewis & Pile, 1996). Participants are asked to relinquish their identity during the time and become someone else. People do this in a number of ways, including dance and costumes. One of the most well known style of dances in Brazilian Carnaval is samba.

toc =Samba = Samba is a Brazilian dance that has its roots in Afro-Brazilian culture (Lewis & Pile, 1996). Samba schools compete with one another during Carnaval in the sambódromos, areas blocked off for people to view samba dances. Samba will differ from state to state, as it has specific rhythms and instruments used for each state. There are six judges who each have a responsibility to judge one part of the samba school: the school’s flag; the performance of the flag bearer; the plot and lyrics of the samba; the appearance of school overall; the quality of the music; and the individual floats. Additionally, each samba school must have a king and queen. (Lewis & Pile, 1996).

Samba is an important tradition in Brazilian Carnaval, but within the world of samba schools are roles that women are to play and provide a setting for playful sexual behavior to occur (Ergood, 1991).

media type="custom" key="25743404" = **Gender Roles ** = During Carnaval, women are expected to play certain roles if they are a part of Carnaval. The female body represents sex, pleasure, and excess, and is thus expected to break past the sexual barriers set for women, while at the same time maintaining her morality (Lewis & Pile, 1991). Two types of women that are part of this are the Mulatas and Passistas.

Mulatas and Passistas
Mulatas are women who are defined by their brown skin, mixed racial descent, and their skill (sometimes) at samba. Mulatas are typecast as sexually available women who are great in bed; they are defined by their sexuality (Pravaz, 2012). This term “mulata” has come to mean prostitute or escort in certain contexts. For example, instead of using garota de programma (call girl), the term mulata de programma has been used. By doing so, it has been argued that it racializes prostitution and sexualizes women of color (Pravaz, 2012). Contemporarily, mulata has come to mean who dances samba in Carnaval parades and on stage in nightclubs (Pravaz, 2012).

Passistas are described as women who have Afro-Brazilian descent who dance samba in Carnaval parades and take their positions as samba dancers seriously (Pravaz, 2012). Passista literally means “she who makes steps,” whereas mulata refers specifically to the color of a woman’s skin and her descent (Pravaz, 2012).

Passistas are taken more seriously as performers as they are known for that. Mulatas, on the other hand, embody mulatice (mulataness), which is a sensuality that is typically associated with their personas (Pravaz, 2012). Mulatas are viewed as sexy Brazilians not only because they may dance samba, but also because of their physical attributes that represent mestiçagem, the mixing of European men with African women that “whitens” African traits (Pravaz, 2012). Historically, black sambistas have been discriminated in Carnaval and have been limited to elite Carnaval clubs (Pravaz, 2012).

Mulatas and passistas both are erotic figures in Brazilian culture and in Carnaval, and are typically praised for their beauty (Pravaz, 2012). Their female bodies contribute to the gender and sexual expression of Carnaval.

The Female Body
Whether partaking in Carnaval or not, mulatas’ bodies are on put on show for visual consumption (Pravaz, 2012). Their bodies are heavily sexualized, however, they are never viewed as grotesque (Pravaz, 2008). Women who partake in Carnaval, both passistas and mulatas, are required to have bodies that are in fit (Pravaz, 2008). The female performers are chosen based on their beauty, stamina, and ability to convey enjoyment (Lewis & Pile, 1996). As these roles in Carnaval are not permanent, women must keep their bodies in fit shape (Pravaz, 2012). During these festivals, what is considered indecent is a women who is not in shape showing off her body (Pravaz, 2012).

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Female performers in Carnaval are “uncostumed,” meaning they are showing skin, but covering up certain parts of the bodies, such as breasts and genitals (Lewis & Pile, 1996). To be uncostumed, women must be fit. However, the female body bears the weight of clashing cultural values (Lewis & Pile, 1996).

=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Social Sanctions = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For women who partake in Carnaval, they are often faced with the Madonna/Whore dichotomy. Carnaval goers want to see women bare their skin and dance, however, society as a whole does not. Women who perform publicly risk being perceived as “out of place,” breaking the rules of femininity (Lewis & Pile, 1996). Women are viewed as beautiful during Carnaval, thus they are objects of desire (Lewis & Pile, 1996), however, for those who are outside of Carnaval, they are viewed as whores. The woman who dances publicly in the streets is viewed differently than the woman who dances at home (Lewis & Pile, 1996). For example, mulatas are iconic of the nation when they samba, however, performing samba in very little clothing will result in her moral standing being questioned (Pravaz, 2012). For women, they are expected to be sexual objects during Carnaval, but not so sexual that their morality is questioned.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Submitted by Sarah Diamond

=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">References = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ergood, B. (1991). Os Blocos de Santa Rita do Sapucai: Carnival clubs in a small Brazilian city: More than culture. //Studies In Latin American Popular Culture//, 10,141-155.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lewis, C., & Pile, S. (1996). Woman, body, space: Rio Carnival and the politics of performance. //Gender, Place & Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography//, 3(1), 23-42. doi:10.1080/09663699650021927

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pravaz, N. (2008). Where Is the Carnivalesque in Rio's Carnaval? Samba, Mulatas and Modernity. //Visual Anthropology//, 21(2), 95-111. doi:10.1080/08949460701688775

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pravaz, N. (2012). Performing Mulata-ness: The Politics of Cultural Authenticity and Sexuality among Carioca Samba Dancers. //Latin American Perspectives//, 39(113), 113-133. doi: 10.1177/0094582X11430049