Between Brazil and Europe: Brazilian Women Negotiating Gender and Race in Representations About “The Brazilian Woman”

Abstract

In the 21st century, the international migration flow of Brazilians has changed in terms of its direction, intensity, and nature and there has been a significant increase in the participation of women. Unlike migratory movements that in the second half of the 20th century had mostly been directed to the United States, Japan, and Paraguay, there has been an intensification of the movement towards Europe. This article analyzes the mobility between Brazil and Europe of Brazilian women who establish affectionate relationships with European men, and how they negotiate gender and race in the representations of “Brazilian women.” It is a qualitative study that, based on two databases of research carried out with 46 women, selected 4 semi-structured interviews to reflect on processes of transnationalization and perception of the marks of racialization and exoticization that Brazilian women experience during their migratory experiences. This reflection allowed us to consider that the women participating in this study, when they establish conjugal relationships with Portuguese, Germans, or Italians, rethink their migratory projects according to the conditions that the affective relationships establish, negotiate gender positions, face the processes of racialization and sexualization, and elaborate other meanings for imaginaries associated with “Brazilian women.”.