Singer Ludmilla reveals that she prefers “moreno” (dark) men, not too “well hung” because you “shouldn’t have to feel pain”; is she admitting that she prefers white men?

Singer Ludmilla reveals that she prefers “moreno” (dark) men, not too “well hung” because you “shouldn’t have to feel pain”; is she admitting that she prefers white men?

By Marques Travae

So I know today is Christmas and all, Natal in Brazil, but I just wasn’t up to making a Christmas-related post today. The only connection today’s story might have to do with Christmas is what type of “package” popular singer Ludmilla prefers!

Here’s the story…

Singer Ludmilla was recently the guest interview in a video celebrating the achievement of 4 million followers of popular fashion producer Matheus Mazzafera’s YouTube channel.

During the discussion, Mazzafera and Ludmilla chopped it up about her ideal type of man. The singer got right to the point in terms of the attributes of any man pursuing her affections:

“Moreno, tattooed, with a beard and short hair, just right,” she revealed.

The singer then got even more personal in her description of what she needs, or perhaps doesn’t need, when it’s time to get down.

“Not very well endowed, because it has to be pleasant, delicious, you don’t have to feel pain,” said the singer whose latest hit single “Clichê” has already passed five and a half views on YouTube. The artist formerly known as MC Beyoncé also said she likes tall, fun men who smell good, show “any gesture of affection”, such as giving flowers, as well as a gentleman who opens car doors and can pay the bills.

As you can imagine, the black men’s WhatsApp group of which I participate had fun with two of the details of the preferences she revealed. Several of the brothas expressed the idea that the singer was basically saying she preferred white men, and others went more explicit saying she only preferred “pink d*ck”. Still others joked, writing that, as she doesn’t prefer “well-hung” men this would automatically squash the possibility that she would ever get with them.

Anyway, all jokes aside, I was more intrigued with the singer’s admission that she preferred “morenos”. For those of you who are not frequent readers of this blog and/or are not familiar with this term that has appeared in its masculine (“moreno”) and feminine form (“morena”) in hundreds of previous posts, let’s review.

“Moreno/morena” are popular terms used in Brazil describing a man or woman’s racial characteristics. In a Brazil that celebrates racial ambiguity, it is the perfect term, for it can be used to describe numerous types of men and women in terms of race. It could define a white man or woman with dark hair, a brunette. It can be used to define a person of mixed race. It has also been used to define light, brown or dark-skinned black people, making the term’s usage often times confusing.

Although more commonly used to describe black people in past decades, the terms are still used today when white or black people don’t want to offend an obviously black person by describing them as negro, or black. But in today’s times of racial consciousness, it is very common that black people of various skin tones reject the terms “moreno” and “morena” and are assuming the terms “negro” and “negra”, which are the accepted classifications that persons with a certain degree of racial consciousness are more likely to assume.

Within politically/racially conscious communities of black Brazilians, terms such as “moreno” and “morena”, “pardo/parda”, “mulato/mulata” are increasingly rejected, and as such, most agree that when someone is defined as a moreno/morena, it is understood to mean a white person with dark hair, with or without tanned skin. These details are important to consider in this discussion about Ludmilla’s recent comment.

An ongoing debate in Afro-Brazilian circles is the question as to which side, black men or black women, is more likely to be “down with the swirl”, or be a participant in “palmitagem”, the first, in the American sense, referring to black people who are open to interracial relationships, while the second, in the Brazilian sense, refers to black people who have a preference for having relationships with white partners.

Considering Ludmilla’s comment that she prefers “morenos”, it seems she is clearly saying that she prefers brunette white men rather than black men because the singer has never struck me as being shy about defining herself or others as “negros” and “negras”. As such, if she had a preference for black men, she would have simply stated that she prefers “negros”.

The second reason I would argue that she is clearly referring to white men is the fact that for many Brazilians, truly “white men” are those who look American or European, very pale skin, light-colored eyes and blond or light brown hair. While these types of men DO exist in Brazil, especially in the southern states, most white Brazilian men don’t have the same degree of whiteness as the typical American or European man.

The third reason harks back to a discussion I had with a girl I referred to as “Luciana”, who said she preferred “dark men”, but only dark along the line of Greek or Turkish men. “Luciana” seemed to want to avoid saying she had a preference for white men and seemed to qualify this by saying she didn’t like blond men. The bottom line? She preferred white men with darker hair and darker skin.

The fourth reason I interpret Ludmilla’s statement to mean she preferred white men has to do with her video for the song “Hoje”, in which she and two other females played the role of scientists using a machine to develop the “perfect man”. In the video, after rejecting a series of men, a man appears in the man creation box that clearly fits the bill for what Ludmilla is looking for. And what kind of man was that? A “moreno”, of course. Clearly one could simply blow this off as simply a music video that has nothing to do with Ludmilla’s personal taste, but contrast Ludmilla’s videos with those of singer Luciane Dom, who has made a point of always featuring black aesthetics in her videos, and we see a clear difference in the racial politics of representation between the two artists. Whether making a personal statement or not, the images presented in most of Ludmilla’s videos clearly make an appeal to “crossover” rather than the label of “unapologetically black.”

One last detail that adds to the discussion is the fact that Ludmilla was recently involved in a short term romance with a player from Brazil’s National Futebol Team, a black man, Gabriel de Jesus. Black-oriented social networks took note and some cheered for the couple as it would have been great to see another high-profile, rich black couple besides acting duo, Lázaro Ramos and Tais Araújo. But it wasn’t meant to be. As their relationship developed from the friends, just getting to know each other stage, to a romantic vacation to Spain together, the termination of the affair was made public at the end of September. Well, we can at least say that Ludmilla and Gabriel are both at least willing to try dating someone of their race, but, in this case, it just didn’t work out.

But on the other hand, could the fizzling out of the Ludmilla/Gabriel pairing reveal something deeper about relationships among black Brazilians? Of course, I cannot judge anyone’s relationship, how the parties got together and why they parted ways as affairs of the heart are very personal. But at the same time, I’m not the only one wondering why it is that it seems that black Brazilians, particularly those of financial success, seem to have problems relating to other blacks of the opposite sex. And for those who would make the accusation of “policing” people’s relationships, my interests are nothing of the sort.

My whole point in analyzing the topic of relationships of black Brazilians is simple. There has been a marked increase in the desire for black representation, black access to middle class lifestyles and the promotion of buying black and black money, all of which are respectable and necessary ideals. But without black couples and black families, the aforementioned ideals will fall like a deck of cards in a strong wind. The choice is theirs.