With the World Cup putting Brazil on the spotlight, I decided to look into what the competition has been revealing to the world the culture I belong to. Here is what I found:
1 – We jump, we scream, we break our TVs
Italians got the stereotype, but Brazilians are also loud. Like capital letters all over the word LOUD. And when our team is on the field in the most important competition of the country´s favourite past time, we get REALLY LOUD!
- You can hear us on the streets
- On the subway
- Or when we accidentally break expensive electronics
2 – Nobody tells Brazilians to stop singing…
It all started during the Confederations Cup, when a wave of protests awoke a spirit of political engagement in the country. From then on, you can hear the crowd singing the anthem a cappella, on a gesture that never ceases to give me the goosebumps.
3 – …or protesting!
It´s not against football: it´s against repression, evictions, deaths and embezzlement
The World Cup made the world aware of Brazil´s wonders, but also of its social problems. With World Cup related public spending going through the roof, we went to the streets in the country´s biggest wave of protests in 21 years.
Human rights violations became even more clear with the police´s truculent reaction to peaceful protesters.
4 – Hi, nice to meet you. What´s your nickname?
While the rest of the world puts player´s surnames on football jerseys, we not only put surnames, but also pet names. My personal favourite: Givanildo Vieira de Souza, kindly known as the Hulk
Any resemblance is not a mere coincidence
5 – Naked people weird us out!
Yes, people get naked during carnival parades. But to be fair, it is the festival of the flesh. However, on the other 361 days of the year, revealing our bodies is quite a taboo. During a match in Manaus, an England supporter got excited and showed some extra skin, which resulted on a photo that went viral on the Brazilian social networks. To that, an observer, also foreigner, commented:
“Well, don´t you all walk naked around here?”
Answer: No.
Have you been following the tournament? What has this edition taught you about Brazilian culture?