Disparagement humour and gendered racism on social media in Brazil
Luiz Valério de Paula Trindade · Ethnic and Racial Studies · 2019
Data reveals that in 2017 in Brazil, there were 63,698 reported cases of hate speech on the internet, with one-third of these being related to racist discourses. Another study reveals that 81 per cent of the victims of racism on Facebook in Brazil are upwardly mobile black women. These discourses are often conveyed through disparagement humour, which offers the abusers the convenient excuse that their comments are simply harmless jests. This study develops a critical discourse analysis of a selection of Facebook posts, aiming to understand their embedded messages. The findings suggest, first, that racist disparagement humour is employed to challenge black women’s upward social mobility and disqualify their achievements. Secondly, they reinforce deep-seated ideologies regarding differentiated symbolic social spaces for blacks and whites in Brazil. Finally, major social media platforms represent the contemporary arena for the manifestation, dissemination, and reinforcement of racist ideologies.