Representing Black Girlhood in Brazil: Culture and Strategies of Empowerment

In this article, I examine how popular and alternative media depict Afro-Brazilian girlhood and young adulthood. In discussing representations of Black girlhood in Brazil I draw attention to the importance of Brazilian and Afro-Brazilian culture to understanding the empowerment of Black girls. In Brazil, girls of African descent operate in a national context that centers narratives of whitening, racial mixture, and the denial of Blackness as a category. Additionally, Black girls experience aesthetic standards that value Whiteness and their general invisibility in public culture, which can contribute to low self-esteem. The recent rise of MC Soffia, a Black girl MC, and short films by Afro-Brazilian women demonstrate that cultural traditions and acts are central to Black girls' empowerment.