Chica Da Silva Essay

688 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essays on indigenous women in north america

Indigenous people have been oppressed throughout history and in terms of stratification, if you are a women you also experience higher discrimination. Indigenous women have suffered greatly, losing their culture and identity and have been subjected to a devaluation of their beauty, forced to succumb to the colonized characteristics of beauty in order to be accepted. Chica da Silva was a slave who climbed up the social ladder by marriage to João Fernandes, a Portuguese explorer and slave owner. While Chica da Silva was able to use her gender and race to rank up in society, misogynist values were prevalent in her freedom. Not only this but, upon her marriage, she lost her black identity and assimilated to the values of the elite, or in this …show more content…

explores what is beautiful in the salons of Brazil. Women usually come into these salons asking for their curly hair to be fixed. The problem with this, is that you can not fix something that is not broken, however, these women are taught to believe that the hair they were born with is not worthy enough, because of the colonial standard of beauty. These internalizations come from many sources such as an underrepresentation of curly haired women in media, which in turn ingrains into the minds of people who pass it down to younger generations that the qualities that are not European should not be embraced. Not only is this detrimental to their esteem of the women affected but it goes deeper and develops a sense of inferiority, limiting them from believing they can not achieve greater or that they will never be worthy enough.
Although this normalization of Colonial standards is not directly used to rank up in the society as in the case with Chica da Silva, it is indirect. For example, curly hair (a hair texture more dominant in minorities), is deemed to be unkempt, especially in a professional setting such as the work place or a job interview. On the other hand, straighter hair does not provoke similar reactions. If one loses future employment because of his or her “unruly”, it can be assumed that something as simple as hair, can prevent one from climbing the social

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of Beating Anorexia And Ganing Feminism By Marli Grossman

    274 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the article “Beating Anorexia and Ganing Feminism,” Marni Grossman shares her experiance of how she overcame her struggle with anorexia through understanding the feminist movement. Marni objectafies the ways in which society’s expectations and ideas of what it means to have “beauty” is having and negitaive impact. I had a very similar experiance to Marni, in fact the first time I hated my apperance was in the seventh grade. I have olive skin and bold brows, features which i was often complamented on, yet hated. Shawn and Lee argue that “there is no fixed idea of beauty”, suggesting how social ideals from society differs depending on the culture (183). I remember A male student was bullying all the females in the class by Inscribing Gender

    Read More

  • Cabeza De Vaca Dbq Essay

    1065 Words  | 3 Pages

    From a proud Conquistador, to a castaway, a slave and trader, and then medicine man, Cabeza de Vaca was the first European to explore much of the southern coast of Texas. Cabeza was a 37 year old military veteran in 1527 when he left on the Narvaez Expedition to find gold and colonize the Gulf Coast. He was the expedition’s treasurer. Cabeza de Vaca was enslaved by Indians in 1528 when one of the rafts the crew made crashed on present day Galveston island, he then escaped in 1530 and joined/was enslaved by another tribe called the Charrucos until his escape with 3 other survivors in 1534. He then walked to Mexico City. Cabeza survived this ordeal because of the incredible patience he had, his skills of diplomacy and goodwill, and his amazing wilderness survival skills.

    Read More

  • Lakota Woman Themes

    922 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the American Indian Movement, Indian woman became equal with the men. They weren’t just seen...

    Read More

  • Body Image and Hair Politics in African American Culture

    2960 Words  | 6 Pages

    This essay is concerned with issues of identity, body image and the politics of hair within African American culture. It discusses the lived experiences of a number of African American women and is no way generalizable to all African American women. Nonetheless, body image and hair politics are prominent features in African American culture because they have deep historical roots and still feature in present day. Body image is generally understood as a mental image of one’s body as it appears to others (Featherstone 2010). This mental image produces body consciousness, which Samantha Kwan describes as an amplified mindfulness that one’s body does not conform to hegemonic cultural standards (Kwan 2010). In today’s modern context, hegemonic cultural norms are reproduced and widely disseminated by the mass media with the help of new technologies. These new technologies Elliott’s discusses, with some in the form of satellite television and other widely utilized media, give viewers unprecedented opportunities to view and scrutinize their favorite celebrities in close proximity (Elliott 2010).

    Read More

  • The Negatve Effects of a Little Miss Monster

    1822 Words  | 4 Pages

    .... "The Beauty Industry Promotes Unrealistic Beauty Standards." Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers, 2007. Rpt. in The Culture of Beauty. Ed. Roman Espejo. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 4 Mar. 2014.

    Read More

  • Difference Between Indigenous Women And Feminism

    1746 Words  | 4 Pages

    There is a belief that before European Contact Indigenous women had a huge role of leadership and responsibilities along with the men. After European Contact Indigenous women had very minimal rights. Men were considered their social, legal and political masters if you will. If a women had an argument or suggestion to discuss with the tribe or council she must discuss the issue through her husband, for her husband to later mention the issue. To this day this affects Indigenous women with trying to get their views back to what it once was. European contact resulted in Indigenous women not having the equality that they had before. Indigenous women are working hard with protesting and trying to win their equality

    Read More

  • Colonialism In Native Women

    1844 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to Smith, sexual violence “is not simply a tool of patriarchy, but also a tool of colonialism and racism” (Smith 2005, 8). As a result, women are being forced to suffer abuse, which damages their identity. Because of colonialism, Native women often find themselves forced into silence around sexual and domestic violence in their communities. By staying silent about sexual and domestic violence, Native communities are “able to maintain a united front against racism” (Smith 2005, 1). Accordingly, Native women are constantly being marginalized in patriarchal discourses regarding racism, colonialism, and white supremacy discourses. Historically, it is mentioned that sexism is the inability of both patriarchy and white supremacy discourses,

    Read More

  • Native American Stereotypes In Peter Pan

    1080 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is unbelievable how these stereotypes are taught to the American public at an incredibly young age. I am not proud to admit that I did not see a problem with my friends dressing up in stereotypical Native American costumes such as Pocahontas or Tiger Lily for Halloween when I was younger because I what I understood at the time – which is also what many people think today – is that Native Americans were a part of the past. Another example of Native American stereotypes in the media is Gwen Stefani’s “Looking Hot” music video (vimeo.com). In the video, Gwen Stefani is dressed up as a stereotypical Native American woman who is captured by cowboys. Her costume is provocative and she dances in a sexual manner throughout the video. This exhibits the many instances of sexualization of Native American women in media. To my understanding, what it means to be an indigenous woman is to not only debunk the stereotypes and face racism, but to also combat sexism while decolonizing

    Read More

  • Hair Discrimination Essay

    1800 Words  | 4 Pages

    Almost 250 years of slavery and anti-blackness within the United States has created a divide in what type of hair is acceptable. According to Cynthia L. Robinson, “Black hair texture is graded” (Robinson 2011). Precisely, this means that a Black woman has either good hair or bad hair. Good hair has a resemblance of European hair texture, meaning straight and wavy curls. Good hair also diminishes the look of African ancestry. Bad is the complete opposite. The texture is kinky, coiled, and thick, giving the appearance of short hair (Robinson 2011). Hair that bears a resemblance to Eurocentric beauty standards is more beautiful and makes the individual with that hair type more beautiful as well (Robinson

    Read More

  • The Dichotomy Of Disney's Pocahontas, The Indian Princess

    289 Words  | 1 Pages

    This dichotomy was not emplaced to serve Indigenous woman, but to serve colonizers, modern “white man” and their quest of pleasure and ownership. During the time of colonization, the ‘Indian Princess’ played a key role. It helped the idea of converting Aboriginal ‘savages’ into the civilized English way of life.#1 (Isinamowin,1992, p.18) An opportunity to take an Aboriginal woman away from her people, on the behalf of colonizers. Thus, pleasing European males. Although, this notion is pretty outdated, this belief is still imposed today. #2 (Anderson, 2016, p.81) Disney, for an example and their movie Pocahontas, which pictures the main lead falling in love with a European explorer, who she saves from her people. Thus, leaving her ‘community’

    Read More

  • Virgen Mary Summary

    624 Words  | 2 Pages

    A culture of sexual oppression was begun” (Hardin, 5). To put differently, indigenous women are degraded and sexually oppressed by the conquistadors due to their “exotic” phenotype and culture. The fact that indigenous women are portrayed as concubines, reveals how conquistadors debase indigenous women due to Europeans patriarchal views toward other races. Moreover, indigenous women are not seen as humans, but perceived as property to be sold and bought which parallels to their “whore-mother”— the

    Read More

  • Afro-Peruvian Women

    1425 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this sense, the hair as a part of an embodied identity with transformative power, that can function as a political statement, to claim identity and reverse the Eurocentric narratives that exclude black women from the ideals of beauty and desirability. Accordingly, the second part of the video shows the stories of transition to natural hair, and through the testimonies of Afro-Peruvian women participating in the video, Natalia -both as creator and participant- is able to emphasize the transition as a stage of liberation and self-acceptance. By stating that transition is “the most magical thing that exists”; the video shifts the course of the narration to function as a tool for empowerment and acceptance of the natural hair as a fundamental part of the Afro-Peruvian

    Read More

  • Las Madres Paternalism

    1698 Words  | 4 Pages

    In both Australia and the United States of America, indigenous people were seen as unfit to care for their children. In many cases, children were removed from the custody of their parents and sent to a boarding school. Once there, they would have to fit into the idea of whiteness—they could not speak their native languages, their names would be changed and they would have their appearance changed. To the settlers, the native people were the “marked” people who needed to change their uncivilized ways to become more like the whites. White women were often the strongest supporters of these institutions and as a result became the agents of nation building.

    Read More

  • Cuetzalan Del Progreso

    687 Words  | 2 Pages

    This approach aims to provide three insights. The first one is to describe what indigenous women perceive as ethnic-based and gender-based violence, not as a mere collection of situations, places and times, but as an analysis of racialized bodies within a broader political context. Secondly, it would help to determine what is

    Read More

  • Early 1990s: Studying The Lives Of Women

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    Feminism implies the belief that women have in the past subordinated to men and to the commitment to achieving the freedom for all the women in every aspect of life (Kimmel 15). Though the beliefs, practices, and values of feminisms are always evolving, they take into consideration the new ideas and historical research. It very clear that similar values had impacted on different groups of women even when they hadn’t identified their beliefs as “feminist.” There are many components of the contemporary feminisms that are found in the most of the Native American cultures. Most of these societies are gynarchies (owned by women) that were egalitarian.

    Read More

More about Chica Da Silva Essay

Open Document