1. CH. THREE: Color-blind erotic democracies, black consciousness politics, and the black cinderella
1.1. The U.S. and Brazil
1.1.1. There has never been and never will be a race based affirmative action.
1.1.2. Lack of Brazilian race-based civil rights movements provides stark contrast to events in North America.
1.1.3. In North America, racism was codified and challenged, both in a widely supported movement and within the legal system.
1.1.4. Race is embodied in everyday valuations of sexual attractiveness, and this attractiveness is gendered, racialized, and class-oriented in ways that commodify black female bodies and white male economic, racial, and class privilege.
1.2. Black Cinderella: Ana Flavia Pecanha Azeredo
1.2.1. Black woman was physically and verbally assaulted for making two white men wait for an elevator. She was the governor's 18 year old daughter.
1.2.2. She filed a racial discrimination suit.
1.2.3. She is perceived to be the Black Cinderella because she actually did belong at the ball.
1.2.4. African-ness - the symbol for blackness no longer marks a place; it marks a people.
1.3. O Cortico
1.3.1. Jeronimo, a hard-working Portuguese immigrant falls in love with a mulatto woman.
1.3.2. The author, Goldstein, makes an assessment of this novel, suggesting the author of this novel, Aluisio Azevedo has made a correlation between a hard-working immigrant falling in love with a mulatto women and what Goldstein perceives to be 'laziness'. She goes on to elaborate on what this novel proves. The novel is a foundational vision of the mulata seductress and her linkage to everything tropical, sexual, untamed, and dangerous.
1.3.3. Patricia Hill COllins describes four American stereotypes of black women that similarly pathologize black women.
1.3.3.1. 1. Mammy
1.3.3.2. 2. Matriarch
1.3.3.3. 3. Welfare Mother
1.3.3.4. 4. Jezebel
1.3.4. Brazilian television features mostly white actors.
1.4. Two Kisses
1.4.1. Gloria rides on a separate elevator than her employer, she dresses in a separate room, she eats in a separate room and none of these practices seem to affect her as much as the two kisses with which a white woman is greeted.
1.4.2. She viewed her employer's aversion to two kisses, (an aversion to physical intimacy) as racist.
1.4.3. She viewed her employer's aversion to two kisses, (an aversion to physical intimacy) as racist.
1.5. Conclusion
1.5.1. In Felicidad Eterna, the idea of seducing or marrying a coroa presents itself in the everyday lives of women as a possible form of social mobility.
1.5.2. To some extent, when entering the realm of of romance and sexuality, they adhere to the belief that they live in a color-blind erotic democracy.
2. CH.TWO
2.1. Rio Shantytown: Vernacular
2.1.1. 1.a boa aparencia: a good appearance
2.1.2. 2. empregada: domestic worker
2.1.3. 3. carteira de trabalho: work card
2.1.4. 4. faxineira: heavy duty day cleaner
2.1.5. 5. cruzeiros: currency
2.1.6. 6. viados e sapatoes: fags and dykes
2.1.7. 7. bom papa: good conversation
2.1.8. 8. esquenta a cabeca: get hot-headed
2.1.9. 9. orelhao: literally big ear, meaning a public telephone.
2.1.10. 10. angu: corn or manioc mush
2.1.11. 11. os bacanas: good life people
2.2. Poverty in Rio
2.2.1. Rio is the country's second largest city and its second most important port.
2.2.2. Rio's economy has been on decline for many years: it is generally accepted that the city has definitively lost out in the struggle with Sao Paulo for commercial and industrial dominance.
2.2.3. Rio has a much smaller middle class than Sao Paulo.
2.2.4. A large proportion of poor women who have ended up in Rio find work without regular benefits or health care.
2.3. History of Rio
2.3.1. Intimately connected to the lives of slaves, ex-slaves, and domestic workers
2.3.2. No matter the skin color, the domestic workers is symbolically associated with the dirty work to be done in the household.
2.3.3. Despite the associations the workers are much appreciated.
2.3.4. Influence of dark skin with slavery and slavery with unpleasant tasks is strong.
2.3.5. The elites motivations are often linked to their desire to appear "civilized"
2.4. Ambiguous relationships
2.4.1. Cida, pg 86
2.4.1.1. "The daughter you can abuse because her daughters don't want to take care of her. They want Cida to stay and care for their aging mother."
2.4.2. Soneca and Gloria, pg 84
2.4.2.1. Soneca becomes pregnant and does not complete training at the computer institute. Gloria is upset but knows that she needs help with her other children. Beth cares for Soneca and her tiny daughter Diana, this creates tension between Gloria and Soneca because this has directed the attention off of Gloria, which she is not happy with.
2.5. Conclusions
2.5.1. Telenovelas
2.5.1.1. Often reinforced perceptions of the life of os bacanas, or the good life poeple.
2.5.1.2. The tragedies of the elites depicted here often fall on deaf ears. Scenes are more often poked fun at rather than wept about.
2.5.1.3. Cida's inappropriateness or laughter out of place in watching an 'emotionally packed' moment during the telenovela distinguishes her from Renata. Cida's place as the low Other, embodied in this misplaced laughter that elevates and psychologically sustains these families in their positions, further solidifies economic conditions into more enduring class and cultural distinctions.