Brazil’s World Cup team and their women: Color doesn’t matter or fear of the dark?

Capa

Note from BW of Brazil: The origin of today’s post is actually from 2006, during the World Cup of that year that was held in Germany. That year, Brazil was ousted from the tournament by France in the quarter-finals by a score of 1-0. Besides the disappointment of that year’s early exit, a few other things were the talk of the nation. One, was fans’ opinions of superstar Ronaldo appearing to be overweight and out of shape during the Cup. Opinions were actually confirmed when Folha de S.Paulo reported that Ronaldo was “o mais ‘gordo’ da Copa”, or the fattest of the Cup, weighing in at 90.5 kilos or 199.5 lbs. Second was the disappointing play of superstar Ronaldinho Gaúcho. After having won the FIFA World Player of the Year two years in a row (2004 and 2005) playing for the Barcelona team in Spain, big things were expected from the midfielder/forward. It wasn’t to be.

Ronaldo and Ronaldinho Gaúcho
Ronaldo and Ronaldinho Gaúcho

Another point of intrigue of 2006 was starting goalie Dida. Dida was the first black starting goalie of the Brazilian National Team since 1950. That’s right, 56 years! In soccer, the goalie is perhaps the most important position on the field, somewhat similar to the quarterback in American football. In 1950, black goalie Barbosa had been unfairly blamed for Brazil’s defeat in the 1950 World Cup and ever since then there had been an unspoken ban on black goalies. 

Dida, goalie of the 2006 Brazilian National Team
Dida, goalie of the 2006 Brazilian National Team

Dida was also noteworthy for another reason. A number of friends at the time had pointed out the fact that on the 2006 team, Dida was the only Afro-Brazilian player who had a black wife or girlfriend. I thought it was an exaggeration until I started researching this gossip. Not only was this the talk of my friends, I actually remember reading an online forum in which other black women were discussing the fact as well. Now, in 2014, for anyone who pays attention to such matters, it’s nothing surprising to see top Afro-Brazilian stars with white wives/girlfriends; it’s more a rule than an exception

Dida with wife Lúcia and child
Dida with wife Lúcia and child

We’ve posed the question in several other articles here: is it simply love or is there something deeper going here? For those who will say, “what business is it of yours to question these relationships?”, I respond, EVERYTHING is open to discussion and debate! Need proof? We’ve already documented that some white women only date these players because they are black, famous and rich. We’ve also documented racism and the social inequality inherent in many of these relationships. And we’ve also seen how it’s possible that some white women marry black men as their only available option. Besides all of this, we cannot rule out the ideology of whitening one’s offspringAnd we’re not the only ones who have tackled the issue. As Aline Djokic recently acknowledged, in Brazil, “in spite of all the work of raising the consciousness of the black population, the idea of it being necessary to ‘lighten’ the family still persists.” Commenting on a headline-making incident involving a banana and an Afro-Brazilian player, I found this comment from someone named Adoniran posted on April 29th. 

“I’m black, with a college education and married to a woman of my race….In Brazil, and maybe in the rest of the world too, the first thing a singer or a futebol player does when he arrives at the top of fame is only have white and blonde girlfriends. The history is old and really starts with Pelé. Why is this? What do they want to say with this? That the woman of their race is not worth the same as a white and blonde (woman)? The seed of racism is ingrained in these black people and they always give the bad example when they marry or have affairs with only white women. They don’t know that these white women who pose next to them are only for their self-promotion, and at the first opportunity they trade them for someone of their race. Such players and singers who do not accept themselves, in reality, leave a lot of space for those who see this and take advantage to insult them or remind them of this ambiguity. And throw a banana at them.” (See original comment in Portuguese at bottom of the page)

With all of this in mind, we thought it would be worth checking out the 2014 seleção (national team) and their wives and girlfriends. Does this team follow the usual trend? Well, let’s just say, in reality, even being light-skinned, a few of these women would be considered white only in Latin America, but with only two women in the group that could be called indisputably black, one could say that the 2014 team appears to have a “fear of the dark” complex! What do you think?

Joce Souza e Dante
Joce Souza e Dante
Hulk and Iran
Hulk and Iran
Marcelo, Clarisse and son Enzo
Marcelo, Clarisse and son Enzo
Jô with wife Claudia Santos
Jô with wife Claudia Santos
Daniel Alves with wife, actress Thaíssa Carvalho
Daniel Alves with wife, actress Thaíssa Carvalho
Thiago Silva and Isabele
Thiago Silva and Isabele
Ramires and wife Islana
Ramires and wife Islana
Paulinho and Barbara
Paulinho and Barbara
Fernando and Fernanda
Fernando and Fernanda
Clarice Alves and Marcelo
Clarice Alves and Marcelo
Jefferson and Michele
Jefferson and Michele
Luiz Gustavo and Milene Max
Luiz Gustavo and Milene Max
Fernandinho and Rosa
Fernandinho and Glaucia Rosa
Maicon and Simone
Maicon and Simone
Willian and Vanessa
Willian and Vanessa
Neymar and actress Bruna Marquezine
Neymar and actress Bruna Marquezine

Source: Black Women of Brazil

Adoniran's comment in the original Portuguese
Adoniran’s comment in the original Portuguese
About Marques Travae 3747 Articles
Marques Travae. For more on the creator and editor of BLACK WOMEN OF BRAZIL, see the interview here.

13 Comments

  1. Here we go again… Only 31% of Black men in Brasil are married to “White” women. I’ve said this before, I’ll say it again. There is no cause for alarm and yes famous people do have an impact on the youth.

    But also didn’t you say in a blog post that lower class Black men expect their Black wives to work even if they don’t have jobs? Forcing Black women in Brasil to choose between an unproductive Black men, protect “Black” love from cultural preferences to eliminate the Black race from Brasil, or marry a Non-Black man who is productive?

    Even with the evidence you laid out of the Government plan to eliminate dark skin from Brasil’s DNA, I liken that to Pro Blacks in America blaming Margret Sanger for the modern day problem of Black women having more abortions than everybody else in America combined; while at the same time keeping the birth rate at 2.1 (above replacement) despite having the highest murder rate among any other group in America.

    You featured I believe three women married to non-Black men, no outrage, no backlash.

    But it seems every month or so a post on here screams “Black Athletes” are marrying outside their race (again!).

    Sometimes I don’t know which is worse.

    Slavery lasted longer in Brazil than in the US and there was no war to end it like in the US. Since then by law Brazilians have been equal citizens if not unofficially like this blog contends and I fully agree with. That said, because of lingering racism, from 1960 to 2010 the rate in which Black men are marrying White women in the US is 8-9% and projected (By PEW) to increase to maybe 10-11% by 2020. Pretty incredible when you understand that both Blacks and Whites don’t largely socialize together (Per study by U of Cal-Berkeley).

    Yet when asked how often Black men are marrying White women, most Black women will retort with “oh maybe 20-30%”. As I said it’s only 8-9% as of 2010 but projections have it up to maybe 10-11%. Curious, because Black women in America also feel there are fewer quality Black men available, cause of mass incarceration/drug war. According to Freakonomics Radio, the real numbers are actually closer to 1:1.3 in other words, what Black women “feel” differs greatly with reality and most especially college educated Black women are eliminating at least 98% of the Black male population from contention. How do I come up with that figure? It’s just a guest but it’s based on sound evidence that only 5-6% of the men in the US are –

    1) College Educated
    2) At least 6’0 Tall
    3) Hetrosexual
    4) Never Married
    5) Make $50,000 or more a year
    6) 18-35 years old

    Out of that only about 2% or less are Black men. So like I said educated Black women are eliminating 98% of Black men from contention to be their husbands.

    They aren’t marrying White men either, that rate is steady at 4-6% depending on what study you’re looking at. According to PEW it will be maybe 8% by 2020.

    So explain to me again why it’s important to point out that the majority of the players for the Brazilian national Soccer team are married to non-Black women especially dark skinned women??????

    Goldie is only important because there is so little scoring in Soccer… I’m pretty sure US QB’s are paid vastly more money and given the exchange rate, it’s even larger. Super Bowl winning QB Russell Wilson is trying to renegotiate his rookie contract.

    He is only the second Black man to win the Super Bowl.

    • “1) College Educated
      2) At least 6’0 Tall
      3) Hetrosexual
      4) Never Married
      5) Make $50,000 or more a year
      6) 18-35 years old”

      Number 2 is a GOOD REASON many black American women are “single”…

      • Yes Charles and I can back that up with recent experience. I was at celebration for https://www.facebook.com/myfriendshousela and the room was full of attractive Black women as seen by the pictures on that facebook page.

        There was little social interaction and most of it was because the DJ wasn’t very good, a young guy who quick mixed all but a few songs the entire night. So even if somebody wanted to dance they could barely get into the groove. On top of that you can constant banter from Guy Tore yes that Guy Tore the comedian and some guy that has a sports show on Fox Sports radio here in LA.

        It was called Game Night, so for your $20 donation, you could come in and play games in a social environment. What I say was lots of black men standing around and lots of black women sitting down.

        The few really attractive women might have been playing games with other men (Connect Four for example) or ventured onto the dance floor for a song or two only for the experienced to be ruined by the factors I mentioned earlier.

        So what you have is obvious disconnect and lots of other reasons why lots of successful BW are single and why many successful black men have two-four BW on speed dial at even given moment.

        So instead of blaming lingering racism there is other issues at play, but seemingly at the end, the Black men always get the blame.

      • Responding to A. Thomas’ Nov. 20 2014 comment:

        I meet all accept #2 (I am far south of that LOL). There is a reason why I have begun looking into foreign countries.

        I read somewhere that 1/2 of all child-bearing age black American women are single moms RIGHT NOW.

        You have a minority of black American men (mostly not the good black men) who are getting more than their “fair share” of black women (good and bad ones).

        It is BLEAK out here…

      • I am Black American woman and NEVER heard of a black woman looking for a man with these type of credentials. PLEASE

    • I am an Black woman in America and I find this incredibly offensive! How are Black women in America “blaming” Margaret Sanger responsible for Brazils problems? I can’t think of one of my friends and I have many, looking for a man black or white looking for those ridiculous “US” standards in a man. Absolutely unbelievable. Trash!

    • When you say laws have been “equal” do have statistics to back that up? Are laws enforced equally? Whenever you have an oppressed group of people,It is only natural for them to feel self loathing. Which could easily steer people into believing the oppressor is superior. This could certainly have an impact on choosing a wife or husband solely based on color.

  2. E realmente intrigante qdo se compara o que realmente essas mulheres querem, fama ,sucesso ou apenas a grana deles?. Isso de modo ao contrario tbm e muito intrigante , ouvi um europeu dizer uma vez que a melhor mulher pra se casar e a negra pois nas dificuldades nao fica choramingando e vai logo a luta ! Eu digo mais , as negras brasileiras tbm sao exploradas pelo europeu pois so veem nela uma empregada e dona de casa …fui casada com um europeu , sempre pedia que ele abrisse um bussines pra mim e ele nunca abriu qdo se casou com uma mulher branca como ele , a primeira coisa que ele fez foi abrir um bussines pra ela!

  3. I wonder if one reason that soccer players tend to date/marry white women is that as they move up in social class and enter more privileged spaces, there are fewer black or dark skinned women available.

    • That is some of it to be sure. It happens with successful entertainers here in America (I am starting to call sports players entertainers, that is what they are after all).

      Not always. You’ll find in the NFL and NBA that the majority of Black players are married to Black women.

      Like I said the whole IR thing is overblown in America and it seems to me it’s overblown in Brazil.

      Black women are on the bottom of the marriage totem pole. Some outspoken women don’t like that (obviously) but there isn’t much they can do about it, but instead blame racist stereotypes and Black men for “buying” into those stereotypes.

      Read this blog carefully you’ll see the same trend I do.

      • The topic is about Black Brazilian soccer players and professional black Brazilian men marrying white women. What is that percentage? All you keep doing is degrading black American women. Who have nothing to do with this article. Ridiculous!

  4. I don’t have an issue with interracial dating or marriages. Black women all over the world alsop need to diversity in their selection of men. Peace and Love.

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