Lari old native of Rio: Showed How White Men can be Racist

Lari old native of Rio: Showed How White Men can be Racist

Note from BW of Brazil: I’ve approached the topic of the hyper-sexualized image of both black women and black men in Brazil. I mean, you don’t have to look far for examples of this. It happens everyday is social interactions, comments, jokes, etc.  and now with the explosion of social networks, online dating and apps, these attitudes and stereotypes about black bodies are playing out in the cyber world. Recently, I came across a few black women sharing their experiences with how men approach them online and…let’s just say, ain’t nothin’ changed. 

When I read examples such as the one below, and see how black women are picking up on this game, it reminds me of numerous previous posts and essays and negras brasileiras have written on this topic, perhaps the most blunt being when one young woman declared that she was tired of being “used as a sex hole for white boys”. Let us remember, for nearly five centuries, this is how Brazilian society has treated black women. 

Below, Aline Ramos puts Lari’s experiences into perspective. I will also chime in along the way…

19-year old Rio native Lari showed how white men can be racist when flirting with a black woman

It’s not cool to treat the interest in black women as a fetish or an exotic experience.

By Aline Ramos

Lari is 19 years old, she is from Rio and, as you can see, she is negra (black). The problem is that being black makes homens brancos (white men) feel comfortable approaching her in the worst possible way.

She posted on her Twitter account four messages she received and which together show how white men can be racist when flirting. Precisely because some use her color to treat her as an object.

Translation: Hi, Sorry to bother you, I saw you on Tinder. I’m from Paraná (state) and this week I’m going to Rio to take the test for court analyst. Here’s just blue-eyed blonde, there aren’t an negras (black girls) like you and I have a crush. lol. I would love to pay for a draft beer, even if it was just for a little chat.

There are countless ways to flirt with black women. It’s even possible to approach them without mentioning their race in the first contact. When the approach immediately speaks of color, it is clear that this “crush” some men claim to have is based on innumerable stereotypes and prejudices about pessoas negras (black people). Or just as a sexual fetish.

Translation

The Rio woman’s figure

     Me? Why? Hahahaha

Negrinha linda assim (such a beautiful little negra). I’m jonesing and I’m not from here, so

     Jonesing why? And where are you from?

Ah this is inexplicable, it feels and it just happens haha maybe because of the contrast, I’m blonde…I’m gaúcho (from the state of Rio Grande do Sul), I’ve lived in Rio since last year.

All women can be treated as a sexual object, after all, we live in a society that does it culturally with everybody, regardless of race. But as mulheres brancas (the white women) are considered the standard of desire, when some white men take an interest in black women, they end up expressing it as something exotic and different. If you notice, there is a tone of confession in these messages, as if it were something secret that they just revealed.

These messages make it clear that when you are a black woman, your race comes first. And with it, a lot of negative stereotypes.

Note from BW of Brazil: It is also important to point out here that the male in the who describes himself as blond is from the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, the region that is considered the most European of Brazil, with its overwhelmingly white population. The male admirer above openly admits that he feels an attraction for dark skin due to the contrast and also probably due to the fact that his state has such a small percentage of black people. In the southern region of Brazil, only 20% of the population is non-white. 

Translation

If I get a morena like this. I don’t even know what I would do lol

    What morena??

You Lari

     I’m not morena

Negra linda (beautiful black girl) lol

Translation

How are you?

     What is the difficulty of saying negra?

None, but I always say morena, just a habit. I already said, negra linda (beautiful black girl) then lol

And one of them is that “morena” women are “da cor da pecado” (the color of sin). This association of race with sin is one of the cruel inheritances of the colonization period in Brazil. This discourse was meant to justify rape, as if it were the fault of the black women themselves.

Blacks who were enslaved during this period were treated as animals and not civilized. And so they were also seen as dumb and hyper-sexualized, the opposite of pessoas brancas (white people).

This is because of the racist belief that mulheres negras são mais quentes na cama (black women are hotter in bed).

Note from BW of Brazil: The above exchange between Lari and another admirer is common place. Brazilians have long referred to attractive women of African descent as either “morenas” or “mulatas”, based on the idea that if a woman of African descent is beautiful, she cannot possibly be defined as negra. In fact, the terms negra and preta, both meaning black, have been associated with such negative connotations for so long, many people of African descent, out of shame or embarrassment, have themselves avoided using the term to define themselves. But with the rise in identity politics, pessoas negras/pretas are accepting this identity as a badge of racial pride and coming to reject terms such as “morena” or “mulata” that also carry a certain sexual stereotype in their usage. 

Translation

They say that morena de pele (brown skin) has the hottest body. Is it true? lol

     First off, I’m not morena, I’m black. And whoever says this is racist.

I didn’t mean to be rude. I’m not racist. You’re a bela preta (beautiful black woman).

To assume that a black person is good in bed just because she is black is racism. There are many things involved when it comes to sex and anyone, regardless of color, can be hot in bed.

This is a common situation for black women, but @blackulla said the same thing goes for homens negros gays (gay black men).

Translation: at the same time that these dialogues occurred with you, it seems that they happened with me, we see ourselves responding to the same type of message!! geez…

After all, hiperssexualização de pessoas negras (hypersexualization of black people) is genderless and inherited so strongly that it can be in all kinds of relationships.

Source: Buzzfeed