Sociologist Amelia Simpson says in her 1993 book, XUXA: The Mega-Marketing of Gender, Race, and Modernity…
She descends from her spaceship as if it were a fashion show runway, her blondness on display along with her other physical attributes, highlighted by the revealing costumes she never repeats. The ritual of arrival places the star in a glamorous context that conveys the modernity and sophistication of the first world.
I first heard about Xuxa on an NPR segment. My curiosity piqued, the first Xuxa show I saw was also the last that was shown on Univision. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. The cultural differences between mainstream America and Latin America were as stunning as, well, Xuxa herself. The blending of catchy songs, weird games, and an unbelievably flagrant display of hotpants went way beyond the Mickey Mouse Club and boys staring in wide-eyed wonder at Annette Funicello and, my favorite Mouseketeer, Cheryl Holdridge.
See for yourself in this video of Xou de Xuxa I edited from a recording made on January 9, 1993. It’s in Spanish, and not Portuguese, Xuxa’s native language. It features a few songs from the show. They are, like the K3 tunes, exemplary examples of the craft of Pop music.
[flv:/Video/2008/JUN/XUXA1.flv 440 330]
A pro-Xuxa comment! You’ve made my day! I have more video, but I’ve been reluctant to post it out of fear of further ridicule.
Take another look… I think it’s easy to just enjoy the fun they’re having and the happy music w/o wanting to be (or to have) Xuxa.
What I hear her saying and singing is ‘be the best you can be, be happy, be nice to each other, everyone’s a star’. I see someone having fun at what she’s doing.
I’ve read Simpson’s book and she sounds jealous!
Amelia Simpson goes into all of that in her book. Being discovered in the audience and turned into one of the Xuxa’s Paquitas (the girls in soldier outfits) was a dream for teenage girls. But few had the European looks to qualify.
Spoken like a true sociologist!
Isn’t that nuts? It’s so out of control. And then people wonder why bulimia and anorexia cases are rising. Can’t women appreciate who they are without feeling they must be someone else? It’s like now that we boomers are aging, do you notice how many wrinkle remover commercials air? JUST NUTS!
Joan, some of those affluent South American countries have MORE plastic surgeons per square inch than our country does per state! It’s totally normal for a girl to get a body makeover before she’s hit her eighteenth birthday … so she can look like Xuxa!
That’s very true! You notice how it seems weird for women in that when the next big thing comes along, especially young girls and teens feel they must modify their body image and their ideal of the perfect body. I never thought of Twiggy or recent models like Kate Moss et al who are too thin as being perfect, but as long as magazines and the media do, there’s always that pressure to have “the look”. And it has been mentioned for years about there not being enough Asian, African,African-American, Latino and Islander models. It’s like for women beauty is based on caucasian American and European standards. And culture is no different. Many people feel they lose their heritage when they come to the US or Europe to be successful.
Petula is coming! In fact, she was just here a few posts ago, wasn’t she?
Doesn’t the contrast between Xuxa and her audience speak volumes? Like peasants worshiping a woman who looks Scandinavian. It’s bizarre. Amelia Simpson delves into that subject. It goes beyond girls wanting to attain a figure and weight that would be dangerous to their health. To look like Xuxa would mean denying their ethnicity.
Oy vey! He’s got it bad…and that ain’t good! I think you’ll find most XUXA fans are male, from child to geriatric. When that show first aired I called it “SUXA”. Maybe that I’m older I can cut XUXA some slack, but the show is just not my cup of tea. BRING ON PETULA!!!