What is it about?
Historically, Brazil has been fostering the image of a post-racial society, however, data reveals a different picture: a) racism against Black women remains strongly ingrained in the collective mindset, b) social media has become a prominent arena for the construction and dissemination of colonial-like racist ideologies, and c) Black women encompass the major target of racist discourses on social media. Therefore, this study explores the most salient counter-racist discourses fostered by Black Brazilian women on social media. Employing critical discourse analysis to a selection of publicly-available Facebook posts, it reveals that discourses praising Afro hairstyle embody a distinct political positioning resisting Brazil’s gendered racism. Such discourses aim, first, to challenge the hegemonic ‘whitened’ beauty standard; second, to convey a renewed perception of black aesthetics as a legitimate source of ethnic identity; and finally, as a strong symbolic element to manifest black women’s agency and empowerment.
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Why is it important?
Employing critical discourse analysis to a selection of publicly-available Facebook posts, the study reveals that discourses praising Afro hairstyle embody a distinct political positioning resisting Brazil’s gendered racism. Such discourses aim, first, to challenge the hegemonic ‘whitened’ beauty standard; second, to convey a renewed perception of Black aesthetics as a legitimate source of ethnic identity; and finally, as a strong symbolic element to manifest Black women’s agency and empowerment.
Perspectives
When it comes to critical studies of social media platforms, there are not many that are dedicated to evaluating the resistance movements of vulnerable social groups. Thus, the expectation is that this paper adds a relevant contribution to the expansion of this necessary field of investigation.
Dr Luiz Valerio P. Trindade
IPIE - International Panel on the Information Environment
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: “My hair, my crown”. Examining black Brazilian women’s anti-racist discursive strategies on social media, Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies / Revue canadienne des études latino-américaines et caraïbes, July 2020, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/08263663.2020.1769448.
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