THE JEITO OF THE BRAZILIAN MULATA

179 Pages·2016·5.86 MB·English

THE JEITO OF THE BRAZILIAN MULATA: RACE AND IDENTITY IN A RACIAL
DEMOCRACY
by
Nicole Barreto Hindert
A Dissertation
Submitted to the
Graduate Faculty
of
George Mason University
in Partial Fulfillment of
The Requirements for the Degree
of
Doctor of Philosophy
Sociology

Committee:

___________________________________________ Director

___________________________________________

___________________________________________

___________________________________________ Department Chairperson

___________________________________________ Program Director

___________________________________________ Dean, College of Humanities
and Social Sciences

Date: _____________________________________ Spring Semester 2016
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA
The Jeito of the Brazilian Mulata: Race and Identity in a Racial Democracy
A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy at George Mason University
by
Nicole Barreto Hindert
Master of Arts
George Mason University, 2008
Director: Dr. Nancy Hanrahan, Professor
Department of Sociology
Spring Semester 2016
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA
Copyright: 2016 Nicole Barreto Hindert
All Rights Reserved

ii
DEDICATION
This is dedicated to my mentor, teacher, friend, and colleague Dr. Nancy Hanrahan who
believed in me, supported me, and inspired me to think in ways I did not know were
possible.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank the many friends, relatives, and supporters who have made this
happen. My committee, Dr. Nancy Hanrahan, Dr. Amy Best, and Dr. John Dale have
read countless iterations of this project and were constantly supportive, interested, and
patient on this journey. I would also like to thanks my friends Jeffrey Johnson and
Daniel Afzal for challenging me. My son Aidan McCoy who inspired me to become a
better person and who has spent 12 or his 13 years watching me work towards this goal.
And finally, I would like to thank my partner, Brian Dexter for being the anchor and calm
I needed to finish my dissertation.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. vi
LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii
Abstract ............................................................................................................................ viii
Chapter One: Introduction and Methods ............................................................................. 1
Location and Methodology ........................................................................................ 11
Chapter Two: LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................... 20
Mulato/a As Racial Category ........................................................................................ 21
Sexualizing the Mulata .............................................................................................. 24
Identity Formation and the Politics of (Mis)Recognition .......................................... 29
Chapter Three: THE MYTH OF RACIAL DEMOCRACY ............................................ 34
Chapter Four: VARGAS AND THE MULATA: BUILDING A NATION ..................... 58
Chapter Five: THE JEITO OF the MULATA .................................................................. 94
Chapter Six: THOSE MULATAS: PERFORMING DISTINCTION ............................ 118
CHAPTER 7: DISCUSSION .......................................................................................... 148
Appendix I ...................................................................................................................... 158
References ....................................................................................................................... 159

v
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
Table 1: Age and Racial Self-Identification of Interview Respondents…………20

vi
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
Figure 1: Image of Saint Aparecida……………………………………………...75
Figure 2: Woman holding statue of Saint Aparecida…………………………….75
Figure 3: Textbook image of Brazilian race……………………………………..77
Figure 4: Brazilian mulata #1………………………………………...………….88
Figure 5: Brazilian mulata #2.......……………………………………………….88
Figure 6: Brazilian mulata #3.......……………………………………………….88
Figure 7: Brazilian mulata #4.......……………………………………………….88
Figure 8: Brazilian samba #1…………………………………………………….89
Figure 9: Brazilian samba #2…………………………………………………….89
Figure 10: Brazilian samba #3………………..………………………………….89
Figure 11: Brazilian samba #4…………..……………………………………….89
Figure 12: Carmen Miranda #1…………………………………………………121
Figure 13: Carmen Miranda #2…………………………………………………121
Figure 14: Poster for Carnival…………………………………………………..125
Figure 15: Postcard……………………………………………………………..126
Figure 16: World Cup Advertisement………………………………………….126
Figure 17: Pan Am Advertisement………………………………….………….126
Figure 18: Postcard Copacabana Beach………………………………………..126
Figure 19: World Cup image…………………………………………………...126
Figure 20: Brazilian tourism Advertisement……………………………………127
Figure 21: Image from tour guide #1……………………………...……………137
Figure 22: Image from tour guide #2……………………………...……………137

vii
ABSTRACT
THE JEITO OF THE BRAZILIAN MULATA: RACE AND IDENTITY IN A RACIAL
DEMOCRACY
Nicole Barreto Hindert
George Mason University, 2016
Thesis/Dissertation/Project Director: Dr. Abcdefabc Defabcdef

This dissertation examines the complicated and incredibly important role of the
one of the most emblematic of Brazilian national symbols: the mulata. A mixed-race
woman who demonstrates the perfect blend of African and European traits, the mulata
has become synonymous with the Brazilian nation, its people, and its racial system.
Using interview material from 44 Brazilian women, this dissertation contributes to
existing research in three specific areas. First, the interviews reveal the ways in which the
mulata anchors the racial categories used institutionally and individually. Secondly, this
dissertation addresses what a mulata is and what she means experientially. And finally,
the interview material also investigates the how the mulata has direct consequences on
the expression of identity and identity formation; interrogating the connections between
the mulata at the individual level and the mulata as national symbol.
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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND METHODS
“The mulata is the symbol of Brazil just like Mickey Mouse is an American symbol.
And you (pointing to me) do not look like Mickey Mouse (laughing)! It’s a commercial
image that sells, the men like to look but she is kind of a character, the way Mickey
Mouse is. The difference is that Brazilian women are all mulatas in one way or another.
So it’s a character that kind of exists. When you think about Brazil, we are our women”
(Patricia).

This powerful observation encapsulates the essence of this project. Both subtle
and overt, the complicated connection of the mulata to the definition of Brazilian identity
is consistent and draws attention the ways in which racialized, gendered, and nationalized
identity formation occurs. But who and what is the mulata? Aside from her exalted
position in Latin American literature, her sensual idolization in the social imaginary, and
her deconstruction in race theory, the mulata is simultaneously enigmatic, problematic,
and hugely important. In Brazil, the need to understand the mulata is socially,
economically, and politically urgent. Through and on her physical and symbolic body
cross a constellation of social and historical forces that in essence tell the story of modern
Brazil from an international, national, collective, and individual perspective. The mulata:
a mixed race woman who is a constant reminder of the long and cruel legacy of slavery,
living proof of racial democracy, the half-naked samba dancer from Carnival, a
prostitute, an image used to entice Western men as tourists, a symbol of beauty, a border
between white and non-white, a cultural repertoire, a racial category that does not exist.
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