Carnaval in Brazil 2010 (III) - Stereotypes in Narratives of Brazil

Certainly, Carnaval is renowned for its sexualized atmosphere and the sense of partying going on, something that reflects more the puritanical attitudes of much of the English-speaking media than it does Brazilian society. Each year, reports on Carnaval manage to fall to base stereotypes of Brazil, as if this is the only time the country matters and it is simply as a land of sexual abandon. It happened last year, and probably every other year, and this year is no exception.

There is, of course, the understanding of Brazilians as only being serious about partying. Economics, social policy, education...none of that matters to Brazilians like partying.

Even stories that begin to delve into the very-real negative economic and social effects of Paes's policies can't help but close on the trope of Rio as site of forbidden sexual activity and sexual tourism. You do occasionally get decent stories that focus simply on Paes's policies and how they aren't as easily enforced as he would like, but these stories of what is effectively grassroots resistance are the exception that prove the rule on journalism during Carnaval.

Then there are stories that don't even bother to pretend to be serious, instead chronicling how many people kiss on the streets. Because really, that's what matters to all Brazilians.

Of course, some of the reports don't actually focus strictly on sexuality. This report on Eduardo Paes' obviously wrong-headed policies decided it would be nice to throw in a random, uncontextualized murder statistic, relating that "there were 4694 murders in Rio in the 10 months to October 2008." Of course, nothing in the report had been even remotely related to violent crimes; plus, while 4694 deaths is depressing no matter what, there's absolutely no mention of police violence, or even the fact that a majority of those murders are concentrated in the favelas. And nevermind the fact that the one incident of violence against a tourist this year didn't even result in his death, and that officials are worried about it. Nope - Rio is just a a den of sexualized sin and murder, and is to be portrayed as such.

Sure, some of these images reflect some aspects of Carnaval, but they're problematic for so many reasons. They rely on a very stereotypical exoticism of one city to equate it to all Brazilians (when there is Carnaval throughout the country, often with major regional differences). It treats Brazil as if this is the atmosphere all the time, rather than for one week a year. And by focusing on the party/sex/murder meme, it doesn't even begin to delve into the positive aspects of Brazil, nor the complexities of the society.

Why do research, when stereotypes are so easy?

Brazil - Only Newsworthy During Carnaval When Some Women Might Be Topless!!

Though I often put news stories and commentary up on Brazil, it's really hard to find many stories that are available in multiple mainstream media sources in the U.S. Usually, my posts will involve one link because that's all you can find usually find.

Apparently that "Brazil isn't interesting enough for mainstream media" rule flies right out the window during Carnaval, though, as several other journals (and those three are just a small sampling) are picking up the AP's report on a dancer who has allegedly set the record for "smallest genital covering ever." Nor is it limited to this - all of a sudden, a quick Google news search on Carnaval in Rio (ending this week) brings up numerous stories selling sex and dancers and little else. Nevermind that, as I've said before, Carnaval is a complex social event that involves enormous planning and preparation, detailed floats, parades, competing social clubs, celebration, somber topics, and societal issues. I haven't seen Brazil covered in the news this much since Bush traveled to Brazil back in 2007.

And yet, now that Brazil is back in the news, what do a majority of the stories focus on? The near-nakedness of some of the women. Does Carnaval include topless women? Yes. Yes, it does. But to say that that is the single thing that characterizes Carnaval is like saying that the Detroit Lions' football game is the single thing that characterizes Thanksgiving. There is so much that is going on in terms of complex societal relations, politics, and culture, all of which is worth celebrating and discussing and which goes well above and beyond a handful of scantily-clad women in a nation of well over 180 million people. And the U.S. decides to report on some good old-fashioned T&A.

Hey, American media - way to perpetuate steroetypes of the "exotic other" in Brazil.

Totalizing Ethnic Stereotypes from How the Other Half Lives

My Progressive Era class tomorrow is reading Jacob Riis' classic 1901 expose of tenement housing, How the Other Half Lives. Figured I'd keep a tab of some of the more egregious totalizing ethnic statements.

1. "With all his conspicuous faults, the swarthy Italian immigrant has his redeeming traits. He is as honest as he is hot-headed."

2. "Like the Chinese, the Italian is a born gambler."

3. "The Jew runs to real estate as soon as he can save up enough for a deposit to clinch the bargain... But abuse and ridicule are not weapons to fight the Israelite with. He pockets them quietly with the rent and bides his time. He knows from experience, both sweet and bitter, that all things come to those who wait, including the houses and lands of their persecutors."

4. "The Irishman does not naturally take kindly to tenement life, though with characteristic versatility he adapts himself to its conditions at once."

5. "The Irishman's genius runs to public affairs rather than domestic life."

6. "The Chinaman does not rise at all; here, as at home, he simply remains stationary."

7. "Between the tabernacles of Jewry and the shrines of the Bend, Joss has cheekily planted his pagan worship of idols, chief among which are the celestial worshipper's own gain and lusts. Whatever may be said about the Chinman being a thousand years behind the age on his own shores, here he is distinctly abreast of it in his successfu scheming to 'make it pay.'"

8. "Ages of senseless idolatry, a mere grub-worship, have left him [the Chinese] without the essential qualities for appreciating the gentle teachings of a faith [Christianity] whose motive and unselfish spirit are alike beyond his grasp."

9. "It is not altogether by chance that the Chinaman has chosen the laundry as his distinctive field. He is by nature as clean as the cat, which he resembles in his traits of cruel cunning, and savage fury when aroused."

10. "Thrift is the watchword of Jewtown, as of its people the world over."

11. "The Czech is the Irishman of Central Europe, with all his genius and his strong passions."

12. "Cleanliness is the characteristic of the negro in his new surroundings, as it was his virtue in his old. In this respect he is immensely superior to the lowest of the whites, the Italians and the Polish Jews."

13. "The German has an advantage over his Celtic neighbor in his strong love for flowers."

I could go on.