THE BLACK FEMALE: bodies affected by the faces of oppression and racial inequality

Abstract

This article addresses the social markers of class, gender and race as defining categories of the place to which black women in Brazil were socially destined. It presents elements of conservative universal reason to explain racism as a resource for
dehumanizing bodies different from the European standard, which explains how in contemporary times black women are sentenced to live exposed to situations of permanent poverty and exploitation. It problematizes socio-historical contexts that
conditioned black women to occupy roles such as domestic workers, marked by slave relations of exploitation and subjection. It records the most recent health crises as expressions of racism and gender inequality that affect the lives of black women and their families, in various ways. Along the way, it proposes important reflections on the conservative and racist conceptions responsible for sustaining oppression and racial inequality, particularly in the lives of black women in this country.