Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Theodicy and Ideology: ‘Everybody Needs an Ideology to Live’
- Chapter 2 The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth; But in the Meantime They Shall Watch Telenovelas
- Chapter 3 Suffering Soaps; Fragmented Bodies
- Chapter 4 The Politics of the Vagina
- Chapter 5 The Redemptive Womb
- Chapter 6 The Invisible Back
- Final Feliz
- Illustrations
- Table: Women Respondents
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 6 - The Invisible Back
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Theodicy and Ideology: ‘Everybody Needs an Ideology to Live’
- Chapter 2 The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth; But in the Meantime They Shall Watch Telenovelas
- Chapter 3 Suffering Soaps; Fragmented Bodies
- Chapter 4 The Politics of the Vagina
- Chapter 5 The Redemptive Womb
- Chapter 6 The Invisible Back
- Final Feliz
- Illustrations
- Table: Women Respondents
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
White women for marriage, mulatto women for f——, Negro women for work.
(Brazilian adage, cited in Freyre 1970, 13)I can remember a scene over and over again during my childhood: a white woman who lives in a luxurious apartment is screaming to her domestic servant, ‘Maria’. The servant comes running to attend to her mistress, submitting to every type of humiliation and verbal aggression. All these Marias who were so abused and humiliated were black, poor, uneducated residents of the outskirts – characters similar to the women that watch these scenes, women also called Maria. But instead of feeling indignant and rejecting this type of professional relationship, these poor viewers identify with the women who give the orders, who have the power, the money, who are aggressive and independent. My mother was also a Maria, a poor domestic servant. However, she believed that one day she would be happy like the principal character of the novela, Vale Tudo (Worth It All, broadcast in 1986). It seemed as if my mother suffered more anxiety for this character, Olivia, than for anyone else in the world.
(Marione, 29, English teacher, Santa Cruz)Viewing and Labour
The six o'clock novela, Força de Um Desejo (The Force of Desire), was a great favourite amongst the women in the two bairros.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Body Parts on Planet SlumWomen and Telenovelas in Brazil, pp. 99 - 120Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2011