XVII Congress of the Brazilian Studies Association

Objectification of Brazilian Immigrant Women: The Colonialist Male Gaze

• In Event: Entre-Between Book: Six Brazilian Immigrant Women Tell their Stories

Abstract

Objectification of Brazilian Immigrant Women: The Colonialist Male Gaze

AUTHOR: Leila Couceiro

Over several decades, the annual Carnaval parade in Rio de Janeiro has provided media worldwide with images of samba dancers in sequin bikinis and feathered headpieces. Those photographs are published aiming to please the male gaze (Mulvey, 1972). Travel stories or advertisements for trips to Brazil often include the same imagery, perpetuating a stereotypical image of Brazilian women as hypersexualized, exotic females, unafraid to expose their bodies and waiting to be conquered by foreign explorers. My presentation will focus on the experience of Brazilian immigrant women in the United States as they become targets for microaggressions and even sexual harassment because of this stereotype. This topic was highlighted in my discussions with the co-authors of our book Entre-Between (Kotter Editorial, 2023), a collection of memoirs by six Brazilian women living in the U.S. The book includes my essays “The Sexy Brazilian” and “Waiting for the Hurricane”, where I reflect on how Brazilian women are otherized and challenged by a colonialist mindset, regardless of their age and professional or social status. Awareness of this phenomenon is the first step towards discussing strategies for Brazilian women living abroad to stand up against attempts to recolonize our lives and bodies.

Author

• Leila Couceiro, Independent Scholar