blackwomenofbrazil:Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day in Brazil – But among the diverse couples

blackwomenofbrazil:Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day in Brazil – But among the diverse couples in commercials, why is the black woman kissing a mannequin and where are the black couples?Note from BW of Brazil: Brazil’s media, you just have to see it to believe it! Now I’m sure there will be those people who will leave a message asking why this blog harps on such things, but those people are probably the type who see the world through very rose-colored glasses. The things we point out on this blog are very real, but it is the interpretation that will set us apart from others who will make the accusation of too much pessimism. So be it, the show must go on! Today, we focus on tomorrow’s Dia dos Namorados, which is Brazil’s equivalent to Valentine’s Day. A day in which millions of people will spend (probably) billions of reais (Brazil’s currency) in yet another shallow, capitalism-driven holiday. So how should we interpret the endless stream of commercials promoting the day? Let’s take a look…First of all, allow me to say that I am not an avid television watcher. I do still occasionally turn the television on (more out of habit than anything else) even though for the most part I find television programming to be absolutely absurd, sensationalist, over-the-top and agenda-driven. But even in my little time of watching the ‘idiot box’, I can still come to definitive conclusions about the messages divulged on the screen. So even though I don’t have the TV connected more than say an hour per day (and even less if you only count intently paying attention), some very obvious subliminal indoctrination in terms of race catches my attention. For example…In the TV commercials I’ve noticed over the past few weeks leading up to the Dia dos Namorados, I had to ask a question I’ve posed before: Where are the black couples? That’s not to say that there are absolutely no black couples featured in the commercials, because, as I said, I don’t watch enough TV to come to a scientific conclusion. But at the same time, I DO watch enough to opine on a pattern that I see. Let’s review…In a TV commercial for the Gang clothing brand, there were an array of different types of couples, heterosexual, interracial and homosexual. I even saw black people in the commercial. Two black men and one black woman. OK. But no black couples. The first black guy was seen kissing a blond, the second was shown laying around with a white male and white female. The suggestion of a threesome of just three friends having fun? Not clear, but better than the black woman who was seen kissing a mannequin, yes, a non-human dummy! Was this the media’s slap in the face of black women that reports show have the most difficulty finding a partner in matrimony? Everyone has someone to love except for the black woman. A portrait of reality or a cruel joke? No black couple shown together case #1In another clip that is not a Dia dos Namorados ad, a black woman and black boy are seen in an ad for Sadia chicken nuggets. Now of course, this is not to say that a mother and her child can’t be seen together without suggesting male absence, after all, it took a man and the woman to make the child, right? On the other hand, it is another example of the absence of the traditional black family. It also brings into play the numerous black Brazilian women who speak of being abandoned by black men after datingand/or marriage and the birth of a child. No black couple shown together case #2 In the third example, we see an adorable black girl featured in a Coca-Cola ad. Great right? Well, yes, but it also falls into our study because her parents are a white couple who have adopted her. No, I’m not saying a white couple can’t provide a loving home for a black child that needs the love of a family (even though statistically, Brazilian couples that adopt prefer white children), but simply it is another case in point. What is the message here? The structure of black families is in such turmoil that they cannot provide for their own children? A black child is better off with a white family? Draw your own conclusion, but it figures in as no black couple shown together case #3. In commercial number four, Sonho de Valsa – Pense menos, ame mais (think less, love more), we again see all sorts of couples here; women kissing, elderly persons kissing, a handicapped man with his woman and even a black woman kissing her white boyfriend/husband. To cover all bases, there was a man kissing a woman in the clip that was difficult to define racially due to the angle of the shot, but the woman appeared to be white, which would mean there were two black/white couples in the ad. But as in the others, no black couple shown together, this being case #4. So, how should we take all of this in the context of Brazil’s history and culture? Well, first of all, without focusing much on this, it is easy to perceive that Brazil’s media seeks to increase the presence of homosexual couples on the small and big screen, as many commercials for this holiday have featured men/men, women/women either kissing or in affectionate situations. Add to that the theme of black men/white women and white men/black women and we see a clear promotion of Brazil’s long-time history of miscegenation. But as the overwhelming number of commercials overall and in Dia dos Namorados-themed commercials still feature white male/white female couples, it continues to prioritize this couple as the most valued and ideal for Brazil’s future. As we have pointed to in numerous posts, Brazil’s objective for the black race since at least the end of the 19th century has been disappearance by means of embranquecimento(whitening). In others words, race mixing until a dark-skinned black presence fades into the past. The message to Afro-Brazilians in the non-existence of black couples in these ads is simple: “if you don’t exist in the media, you don’t/shouldn’t exist in the society”/”Make it easy on yourselves and all Brazilians and whiten yourselves”. A message many black Brazilian men and women have been taught for many years. Below, others focused specifically on the issue of the solitude of black women in Brazilian society in the context of the commercials. See the full commercials at the bottom of this article. Full story here: Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day in Brazil – But among the diverse couples in commercials, why is the black woman kissing a mannequin and where are the black couples? -- source link

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