“She has the face of a maid”: Black Miss Brasil suffers verbal offenses, but this has nothing to with race, right?

Note from BW of Brazil: In reality, there’s really nothing to see here. It’s just Brazil being Brazil. We’ve seen this time and time again so I’m not posting today’s piece for purposes of shock but rather to continue documenting the norm of behavior in Brazil when the question is race. The fact is, no matter what black Brazilians do, no matter how much they fight to get to where they are (see here, here or here), in the mind of everyday Brazilians, they will always be/look like “the help”: the maid, the doorman, the babysitter, security, street sweeper, etc. Looking at the comments made about the recently crowned Miss Brasil 2017, it becomes obvious, once again, that Brazilians don’t like to see Afro-Brazilians representing the country in anything beyond the aforementioned positions, on futebol fields, or in Carnaval parades.

It’s actually kind of interesting how no one specifically said they disagreed with the new Miss because she is black, but it’s rather obvious. White women are generally not mistaken for being maids. Another comment that I found intriguing was that someone would rather see an Argentine woman win rather than a black woman from his own country. And yet another comment that caught my eye was someone taking offense that judges voted for the new Miss because she represents “Brazilian-ness”. Nevermind that white Brazilian women represent all Brazilian women in nearly every other genre in society, including more than 60 years of the Miss Brasil contest, but a black woman wins for only the third time since 1954 and some people don’t feel represented. Excuse me, but white women are ALWAYS chosen to represent “Brazilian-ness” even when most non-Brazilians don’t imagine white women when they think of what a Brazilian woman looks like.

It is this very reason for which I have argued in the past as to why it is so necessary that Brazil promote whiteness as its standard. There are two purposes served in this practice. 1) It attempts to whiten the image that non-Brazilians have of Brazilian people and 2) it imposes in the minds of non-whites what they should aspire to be. Considering how Brazil attempts to promote itself as a place where racial appearance isn’t important, non-Brazilians should know that racial appearance is EVERYTHING in Brazil. If Brazilians are truly all one people where race didn’t matter, why would someone even take offense to a non-white woman representing “Brazilian-ness”, especially when literally 95% of the time, “Brazilian-ness” in the Miss Brasil contest is represented by white women? 

Another funny thing here is that, once again, we have light-skinned woman of visible African ancestry feeling the brunt of white supremacy, for although she is not dark-skinned and apparently has a white mother, she’s still “too black” to be considered beautiful for a Brazil that continues to define beauty according to European standards. I suppose it’s also a coincidence that the woman detractors felt was the most beautiful in the contest was the second place finisher who just happens to come from one of the three whitest states in Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul) (see the contestants here). As such, this latest controversy has nothing to do with race even though it has EVERYTHING to do with race. THAT’s Brazil!

Black Miss Brasil suffers racist offenses: “She has the face of a maid.”

Courtesy of Brasil 247

Black, with curly hair and piauiense (native of the state of Piauí), the new Missa Brasil (2017) Monalysa Alcântara was greeted this weekend as a representation of Brazilian; this was what the jurors stated in their discourse that earned her the crown; despite victory, the 18-year-old is being targeted by some racist attacks and hate on social networks; an internet user said on Twitter that Monalysa had the face of an “empregada” (maid): “I don’t believe it! Miss Piauí has the face of an empregada, a common face, she doesn’t have a profile of miss, it wasn’t for her to be there!”

Black, with curly hair and piauiense (native of the state of Piauí), the new Missa Brasil (2017) Monalysa Alcântara was greeted this weekend as a representation of Brazilian; this was what the jurors stated in their discourse that earned her the crown;

Despite victory, the 18-year-old is being targeted by some racist attacks and hate on social networks. This is not the first time that Miss Brasil has suffered from prejudice. In Miss Brasil 2016, when Raissa Santana, a black woman with curly hair, won racist attacks also were also registered.

Translation: “Juliana (Mueller, second place from the state of Rio Grande do Sul) didn’t have the requisite to be MB (Miss Brasil) but it wasn’t the oratory that took her from the contest, what brought her down was she didn’t have “Brazilianness”. It’s being black? So Caucasian Brazilian women are not Brazilian? Please stop, OK!! But even so, I won’t even attack the undeserving shine of Mona, however, hope that Miss Argentina represents me and represents the Brazilian part that doesn’t possess ‘Brazilian-ness’.”

In social networks, an internet user said on Twitter that Monalysa had the face of a “empregada” (maid): “I don’t believe it! Miss Piauí has the face of a maid, a common face, she doesn’t have a profile of a Miss, it was not for her to be there,” said Juliana Porto.

After the jurors spoke about the brasilidade (Brazilianness) the Miss, an internet user wrote: “What is the famous Brazilianness? Is it being black?”

COMMENTS

“It’s no exaggeration. I only want for her to die before MU (Miss Universe) so that Ju (second place contestant Juliana Mueller) can take over the spot.”

“I don’t believe it! Miss Piauí has the face of a maid, a common face, she doesn’t have a profile of a Miss, it was not for her to be there. Sorry

“Juliana didn’t have the requirement to me MB (Miss Brasil) but it wasn’t the oratory that took her from the contest, what brought her down was she didn’t have “Brazilianness”. It’s being black? So Caucasian Brazilian women are not Brazilian? Please stop, OK!! But even so, I won’t even attack the undeserving shine of Mona, however, I hope that Miss Argentina represents me and represents the Brazilian part that doesn’t possess ‘Brazilian-ness’.”

“Unfortunately this year there’s nothing to cheer for Brazil in the MU (Miss Universe). I hope you choose a beauty in Argentina for me to support.”

Source: Brasil 247