PerformingMulata-ness

Abstract

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 mesticagem, 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 cosmo...