Racism and Sexism in Brazilian Culture

Abstract

This is a translation of Racismo e Sexismo na Cultura Brasileira , an oral presentation given at the meeting of the Working Group “Themes and Problems of the Black Population in Brazil”, at the IV Annual Meeting of the National Association of Graduate Studies and Research in Social Sciences (ANPOCS), Rio de Janeiro, 31 October 1980. It was later transcribed and originally published in the first issue of the collection Ciencias Sociais Hoje , p. 223–244, in 1984, organized and published by the same association. Using political-cultural categories and concepts, such as Amefricanity, Pretogues , Brazilian cultural neurosis and myth of racial democracy, Lelia Gonzalez, from an inter-sectional perspective, develops on the dynamics and specificities of racial relations in Brazil and the country’s social and cultural formation, marked by racism and colonization. As a precursor of Afro-Latin American Feminism, the author analyzes the social and subjective condition of the Afro-Brazilian population, more specifically the material and symbolic bases of the oppression and exploitation of Black women, impacted by the double phenomenon of racism and sexism, and their role in resisting the pressures of erasing Brazil’s African roots. Please note, the correct citation as per APA guidelines is: Gonzalez, L. (2021). Racism and Sexism in Brazilian culture (M. J. Venâncio; M. Mendonca; G. Segat, Trans.). New Sociological Perspectives, 1(1) (Original work published 1984)