PerformingMulata-ness

Abstract

Natasha Pravaz is an associate professor of anthropology at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Canada. Her work concentrates on the performative production of social identities, with a focus on the racialization of gender and on intercultural exchange in the context of Latin American dance and music. She has published on Brazilian samba, the myth of "racial democracy," and the carnivalesque and is currently pursuing research among local and diasporic sambistas in the city of Toronto.In Rio de Janeiro, mulatas-brown-skinned women of mixed racial descent who dance the samba in Carnival parades and in nightclubs-have become multifocal symbols eliciting associations that resonate both with colonial morality and with mestiçagem, the narrative of racial and cultural mixing as a cornerstone of nationhood. Because of these associations, a dangerous border crossing takes place whenever they dance the samba in public: they may become icons of nationhood, but this may call into question their moral standing. Women who occupy this subject position attempt to maintain a modicum of respectability as they manipulate the objectifying gaze of Brazilians and foreigners to the best of their ability. They also attempt to portray their dance skills as culturally "authentic" in the search for legitimacy and racial pride. Ultimately, samba is a stage upon which the economic needs, embodied desires, and ethnic identities of Brazilian women clash and collude with the neo-colonial dreams of tourists and cosmopolitans. Na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, as mulatas-mulheres de ascendência racial misturada que dançam o samba nos desfiles de carnaval e nas boites-se tornaram símbolos polivalentes que evocam associações ressonantes com a moralidade colonial e com o discurso da mestiçagem (mistura racial e cultural) comofundamento da brasilidade.Por causa destas associações, elas negociam um espaço perigoso cada vez que sambam em público: podem tornar-se símbolos da nação, mas isto pode gerar dúvidas sobre a sua reputação moral. As mulheres nesta posição social tentam manter um mínimo de respeito social através da manipulação dos olhares brasileiros e estrangeiros que as reificam. Em busca de legitimidade e orgulho racial, elas procuram definir suas habilidades artísticas comoculturalmente "autênticas." Por fim, o samba é um palco onde as necessidades econômicas, os desejos encarnados e as identidades étnicas da mulher brasileira se embatem e conspiram com os sonhos neo-coloniais de turistas e cosmopolitas.In the past decade, scholars have critically engaged the processes by which Brazilian women have been internationally typecast as sexually available, great in bed, and otherwise defined by their sexuality (see, e.g.