Literature ha s failed to properly document personal experiences of the poor people when reviewing socio-economic forces and their impact on the society. Donna Goldstein offers a detailed narration and personal experiences of poor people in Rio de Janeiro, in her book, Laughter out Of Place . She conveys how poor people cope with tragedies and desperation. Goldstein uses laughter to disprove issues of race, class and gender ideologies normalized in Brazil. Through humor, she reveals the relationships of women within the structure of power, focusing on the dark side of the society. Goldstein’s narrative revolves around an Afro-Brazilian family in Favela, a shanty town in Brazil, where she explores the economic, historical and political forces that have shaped the family and the Brazilian society. She uses humor to show how these families cope with life. The fact that issues of race and class has been predominantly affected poor women of color; she uses domestic worker relationship to show the class divides throughout her narration.
The life of Gloria, the dark-skinned domestic worker proves the structural inequalities in the daily lives of women living in Brazil. Women are considered to be among the underprivileged citizens. Gloria ’ s home is described as a difficult place to raise children because of drug-related crimes, gang violence, and teenage pregnancy. In addition, Gloria's daily duties of cleaning forms the context where Gloria's employer, are members of middle class rely on the poor, the dark-skinned women for basic household services. Goldstein further points out how the middle class equally feel helplessness without the services of these dark skinned women, this proves the importance of master-slave relationship in modern times. In the second chapter, Goldstein examines class, racial division and how these elements are inherent within domestic worker relationship. The relationship between poor black women and wealthier middle-class white men is sexually motivated, which also reveal how color hierarchy is internalized. Aesthetics of domination is evident since the domestic work is associated with dark-skinned people, similarly, Gloria‘s understanding of class dimension frames people in a biased manner. Gloria and her friends are also engaged in racial ideologies upholding racial and class norms. She highlights how dark-skinned women take pleasure in acquiring financial support from white people. The interracial relationship reveals some form of internalized racism that adheres to color hierarchy.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Class dimension of domestic work is further evident between Nilda and Gloria. The author portrays this relationship not as a mere economic exchange, but that which portrays inferiority versus superiority ideologies driven by class, gender, and race. For instances, unlike other members of Beth’s family, Nilda was different hence, Gloria found it difficult to perform duties towards Nilda, whom she perceived to be socially equal to her. Nilda was not used to asking someone to help perform household tasks. Such situation proved some levels of internalized racism on Gloria and Nilda’s part. The author further observes how color blind erotic democracy whereby power associated with gender, race, and class plays a central role in the sexual partnership which is normalized and internalized in Brazil.
Using humor, Goldstein unravels the root of inequality in Brazil, a country known for socioeconomic disparities. Goldstein personal journey focu ses o n poor from a personal perspective and offer s a vivid picture and gives a voice to these residents and others who live in a deplorable situations. Goldstein’s’ narration proves how poor and the vulnerable women are ignored by those who analyze socioeconomic forces within the society. Highlighting residences experiences, Laughter out of Place offers readers the darker side of poor people in general. Goldstein humor provides space from which people can speak about topics that are not likely to be highlighted by other forms of medium.
Reference
Goldstein, D. M. (20 0 3). Laughter out of place : Race, class, violence, and sexuality in a Rio shantytown. Berkeley: University of California Press
