Note from BW of Brazil: So now it’s official! As the countdown to Carnaval in already on, the Globo TV network has chosen a new Globeleza girl after all of the controversy surrounding last’s year selection, Nayara Justino. It’s truly a shame how Justino was treated in the whole affair and combined with the race question, or better, skin tone/features element, it represents yet another layer of Brazil’s racial ideology, the “place” black women and the standard of beauty. We all know that show business can be brutal; one can be flying high one minute and the next, no one even remembers your name. That’s how it goes and people have to accept that before even considering getting into it. Even so, with the vast under-representation of black women in Brazil’s media as it is, it’s shameful to see women of visible African ancestry having to battle each other over the few crumbs off of the racist table and also willingly accepting the “place” society reserves for them! Here’s the story…
After racist comments that Nayara Justino was very ‘black’, Globo exchanges her for a lighter-skinned Globeleza
Nayara commented about Erika Moura, introduced officially as the station’s muse on Fantástico
Courtesy of Surgiu é Noticia
Now it’s official, Globo TV has replaced Nayara Justino, who was chosen by a vote on the news journal Fantástico by Erika Moura, who will be the new Globeleza. She will be the fifth Carnival muse of the Globo network, which began in 1990 with Valéria Valenssa, and is also the lightest skinned of them all. The staff of the station found Erika after going to dance and samba schools.
Nayara’s contract expired at the end of 2014. She suffered many racist comments on the internet, such as she was very ‘black’, perhaps this explains Globo’s decision to choose a lighter-skinned Carnival muse. Erika, 22, is from São Paulo and her official introduction as the Globeleza will happen Sunday night on Fantástico.
Nayara commented about the new Globeleza and believes that Erika’s life will undergo a major change: “I think the girl’s beautiful, I wish her all the happiness in this new phase. I know that her life will change, so she needs all the support. And that she doesn’t believe too much in the criticisms, nor in the compliments,” she said.
Although she was replaced so quickly despite having been chosen by the public, the Globeleza do Povo (People’s Globeleza), as she is known, is not hurt and believes that other doors will open: “I’m not sad, but certainly I would have liked to continue and I believe that the millions of people who voted for me would too. But I’m investing in my studies and in my business. I have faith that this will be the year of the turnaround,” she concludes.
Nayara Justino was invited by the Angolan singer and considered the sexiest man in África Adi Cudz to participate in a campaign against racism, which would have the participation and approval of a Brazilian minister and an Angolan, the names of which were not revealed by the singer.
Note from BW of Brazil: The short vignettes featuring Erika Moura will soon swing into high gear, being shown on the Globo network several times per day up to and throughout the Carnaval season, so she’s being slowly introduced to the public. Here is how Moura’s new role as introduced.
“I want to spread the sensuality of Carnival,” says new Globeleza
Courtesy of Notas TV
With the proximity of Carnival, Globo TV announced the new Globeleza during the last edition of the Sunday evening news journal Fantástico. Erika Moura, 22, has studied physiotherapy and dancing since childhood.
In an interview on the program, the girl talked about the meaning of the Brazilian revelry in her life. “For me, Carnival is magical. So I want to pass this on to people. I want to spread magic, sensuality. I want to share the grace that Carnival is,” she says.
For Erika, the most important thing is “to captivate everyone so in this naughty little way”, she says. In fact, she has already recorded the new vignette for Globo’s Carnival 2015 and took about 14 hours to get the perfect look.
Behind the scenes of Globeleza 2015 recording
The Globeleza has two secrets to staying gorgeous and in great physical shape this time of year. “I already do dance, which is my greatest love, which is dance itself, but to increase this, I’m going to the gym.”
Note from BW of Brazil: All we can say is good luck to Erika and hopefully she has something to fall back on in case her reign as the Globeleza is also short! Now, as far as the people, specifically Afro-Brazilians, the topic of Erika’s replacing Nayara has been a hot topic. Black women who paid attention to the whole ordeal with Nayara were outraged with the way she was simply discarded after she had legitimately won the right to hold the title.
Globeleza 2015 clip with Erika Moura
Before delving into this, let’s be clear, there is no hatred for Erika Moura. She is clearly a black woman and she is very pretty no doubt. The issues within the Afro-Brazilian community are 1) How Nayara was treated, 2) the racism against a dark-skinned black woman with more prominently African features that no doubt played a role in her ouster and 3) Globo apparently deciding not to give another darker-skinned woman an opportunity, opting for a woman with a much lighter-skinned woman. Below is how some of the people expressed their feelings on the subject. (The comments in the original Portuguese are included at the bottom) To start off, a woman named Aline expressed her full support for Nayara. Spirited conversation! Check it out!
Aline: Very pretty, but excuse me Nayara Justino, she is not the real black beauty. A well (racially) mixed girl, quite a bit lighter and hair bleached blond. Could it be that like this that the racist Brazilian accepts black beauty? Ultimately beautiful, I think this post is sexist and racist for us and you, with your beauty, you should be on covers, fashion editorials, glamour and runways, this is the way that I want you to represent us, black women. With the naked, painted body, sexualized and objectified I’m already tired and fed up even more with disgust because of everything you went through when you held this post. I would like that, in a form of protest, every model, actress, dancer refuse this role! I am very much your fan, you are an African queen and represent us, may you shine bright in 2015!
Rodrigo: I’m also with the guys who think the “Globeleza title” is an affront to everything we have in mind as appreciation of blacks. I think that this is not the way (a title to dance naked on TV). The beauty and sensuality of black women is indisputable, but she is not only that. So I would never protest anything that referred to things like Globeleza, to tell the truth I watch Globo’s programming very little.
Kdo: The problem is that we have many black women just watching and very few actually taking a stance. Not only seeing the beauty of Nayara Justino, I also want to hear your voice! Much that the media did with the black woman in 2014 revolted me: Sexo e as negas revolted me, intellectual invisibility attributed to blacks revolted me, the deaths of each one of the black women killed this year revolted me. It’s time to turn this revolt into something constructive for our ethnicity and whoever is revolted like me, stand up against this dictatorship!!! We are more than 50% of the Brazilian population, it is not possible that we cannot change anything!
Agatha: I didn’t understand Nefer, can you do me a favor and explain?
Nefer: How’s that, what didn’t you understand?
Agatha: They didn’t like the girl being the Globeleza because of her appearance?
Aline: That Nayara lost the post and was not informed of the breach of contract because of the rejection of the media and society, a sharp rejection because of her darker skin and more prominent black features than her predecessors.
Nefer: Exactly nothing against (her) but it’s always the same, as I said the “media” has no preference for blacks with darker complexions, and having more pronounced features similar to Africans, when you have blacks in the media the vast majority are mestiços (mestizos/mixed race) with lighter skin.
Aline: I never liked it and this post never represented me. We are analyzing in a critical manner why the exchange of Nayara for this girl, who is also beautiful, however, to the racists she is only beautiful naked in carnival.
Agatha: But Valéria Valensa was not blond, nor was she a light skinned black woman?
Aline: Valéria Valencia (Valensa) was much lighter than the Nayara, a fact.
Nefer: Yes Agatha but count how many Valérias there are in the media
Nefer: can someone post someone famous that is “similar” to Nayara, the only one who I remember is Joice (Ribeiro) SBT journalist
Agatha: Nefertary I think it’s Adriana Alves the name of the actress, that I told you.
Thy: Hi? Isn’t Erika black? Myyyy Godddd. I haven’t even read everything #oremos
Agatha: Thy, no one said that she’s not #Negra, what was said is that what they did to Nayara Justino was horrible, and that the current Globeleza has lighter skin than Nayara and really there is much difference …
Nefer: Thy no one said she is not black nor undeserving, we’re talking about the “Globo standard”
Malika: I loved your comment Aline. It would be so nice if these girls that ‘dream’ of being the Globeleza did a protest in support of Nayara. What this girl went through hurt me because it was too underhanded, and the worst is that we have to hear this is ‘freedom of expression’, but we well know that it’s not that, because they did the same when Lupita was chosen the most beautiful woman in the world by People. The comments from Brazilians were showing perturbation and always with that of ‘I’m not racist, because there are much more beautiful black women such as Taís Araújo.’ Being that Taís Araújo herself was a victim of prejudices when she decided to do BC (big chop) to have her hair natural. I mean, in Brazil what prevails is Eurocentrism, and honestly, soon this spot Globeleza will be for white women, after all they think that they are victims of racism because they can’t participate.
Cláudia: People ..let’s bombard Globo..demanding the reign of Nayara … and stop with this tribal ping pong among us…join the tribes together and strongly bombard the media … the. oppressive broadcaster wow!!! Wake up black people! Get out of the senzala (slave quarters) and come to the terreiro (Afro-Brazilian religious temple). Express yourself… Let’s bother them the same as a stuck thorn … but together ..firm and strong …
Malika: I understand you Cláudia, but I would never protest in favor of ‘reign’ of Globeleza, this is coisa de negro (a black thing) that sells the body to the gringos. I protest against the racist work of Monteiro Lobato that Globo loves entitled “Sítio do pica pau amarelo”, I protest against the insults of the Globo network in always giving peripheral roles to blacks, I protest against the black image being associated with crime and vagrancy, I protest against racism that Nayara suffered from the media, and the population be it white or black. I’m little on the crap of Globeleza. Blacks, or mules (mulatas) have to stop wanting to have that image. It’s as simple as that.
Cristina: Malika here in Porto Alegre there’s a well-known house of samba, Banda da Saldanha, frequented by an audience of 90% blacks and they choose a queen, this year they chose a white woman and the owner of the house, who is black, said that he wanted to show that they are not racist, like these things are to die for, so the guys want to be respected. And it seems that they all are always white, so people don’t understand why the model of beauty model for them is Europe. I think like this as the media does not want us on TV instead of then the people will wake up, tired of begging to be seen in the media, that’s why from the time they’re little children always reject (themselves), only take the test and pick up the photo of any thin white person, not even needing to be beautiful, it can be a common person and the Angolan miss universe and ask a black child who he/she thinks is beautiful? People are astounding.
Eduardo: No one needs to be a specialist in the African theme or race relations to realize the dictatorship of colors, and the darker (one is) the more they will be discredited. Brazil is a republic of the pigmentocracy. And if you don’t agree then you are racist.
Source: TV Yahoo, Surgiu é Noticia
Facebook comments in original Portuguese
Of course this whole business of discriminating the first girl for being “too black” is typical Brazilian prejudice but this whole “Globeleza” thing is quite detrimental to black women. I don’t know how this is worse than the “Sexo e Negas” program. A black woman dancing naked at any time of the day (or is this restricted to late hours?) – what kind of message this passes to young black girls?
I remember studying in Brazil in a private school in Rio and I think almost 100% of the kids there were white (or close enough to pass as white..) with the exception of one black girl who was the most talented student with the best grades. The girl was amazingly exceptional in everything she did, but stil, the other kids would refer to her as the “Globeleza girl” and as you can imagine this was not out of respect, but blatant racism and envy for her skills. Point being that this whole “Globeleza” thing should end, IMHO.
Erika Moura you are a asshole!!
The new girl has the responsibility to say something….