Sexual Harassment in Capoeira
An even more destructive force is the sexual harassment that is endured by many female students. I have witnessed and experienced sexual harassment and even sexual assault at capoeira events. In my experience this is almost exclusively perpetrated by mestres on young students, usually those who are within their first two-three years of capoeira training, with the majority that I have witnessed on those within their first 2 years. This is not unique to the capoeira community, but since this is my community, I will take it on here.
Mestres are put up on pedestals at events. We are told as young students to always respect the mestres, and it is made very clear that we need to make allowances for them that we don't make for other people. They can cut us off in the roda, they get food first, they can play as much as they want, you can't buy the game when they are playing, don't ask them about logistics, don't "bother" them. They are the honored guests. In the space, they are often put on chairs while others sit on the ground. Rules that apply to the rest of us don't seem to apply to them. This sets up a very obvious discrepancy in power just in the structure of events.
What I have then experienced is propositions for sex from Mestres at events. Objectification, not taking no for an answer, being grabbed, having inappropriate comments made to me to the point that I felt unsafe in the space. At a gathering after a batizado, I was talking to a mestre about Brasil and asking questions about capoeira when he began asking me to kiss him and wanted me to go find a room with him. I said no and walked away and tried to avoid him for the rest of the party. At the end, as I was leaving, he grabbed me, pushed me into a corner and shoved my hand on his erect penis. When I told my then teacher that I was harassed, he told me that if I didn't want to be harassed, I shouldn't talk to mestres at parties, because that is what happens. Being somewhat new to capoeira still, I didn't speak out about it, because I honestly didn't know what to do and I felt that I wasn't going to get support from my teacher, so who was I going to get support from?
As I got older in capoeira and became more skilled at avoiding those occurrences, including making sure I had a male friend with me at all times at batizado parties, younger capoeiristas would come to me to tell me that a mestre was trying to get her to sleep with him and she didn't know what to do because he wouldn't take no for an answer. Or asking what was up with mestre so and so because he kept trying to kiss her.
In the end, what I realized from this is that male students can talk to mestres at parties and get more information about the mestre’s own history, their own personal story, and get a different perspective on capoeira, but if a woman asks these questions, she is opening herself to sexual harassment. This is even the case when you are at workshops. I no longer feel safe asking questions of a mestre, nor do I have any desire to because of the rampant harassment I've seen and the subsequent blaming of the woman for "inviting it" by simply being in the space and asking questions.
Again, this is not every teacher. There are allies in the community. But I have not seen male allies in a position of power challenge the men who are doing this.
So what is being done about this in the community? Very little. There are occasional talks with women before an event explaining what will happen, but I have never known of a talk with visiting mestres about a zero tolerance towards sexual harassment. So again, the responsibility is being put on the victim. Saying that it is their fault that they are harassed. It is akin to saying a woman is raped because she wears a short skirt so before she goes out, her family and friends have a talk with her about not wearing short skirts so she doesn't get attacked.
The issue is not with the women. It is with the mestres who have had an entitlement to female students for decades.
What I am shocked by is that everyone knows this happens. Everyone is very aware of the situation, yet I have rarely seen it discussed at events. The few times it has been discussed that I am aware of, it is because it was brought up by me during a bate papo or I will make a post about it on social media to raise awareness and question what we can do as a community. People thank me for speaking out. They say it is so important. That they wish more people spoke out, yet they themselves remain silent.
I have had a contramestre come up and thank me for saying something, and encourage me to keep speaking out on social media and other forums, yet I have never seen him challenge a mestre about it. Perhaps he has and I don't know. I know he has expressed concern that he feels it isn't his place to speak for women. I am thankful for the support he has offered, and I am eager to have more conversations to see how allies can support women in capoeira. I am also interested in the role of the trickster using his inside influence and privileges to affect change.
Mestres are put up on pedestals at events. We are told as young students to always respect the mestres, and it is made very clear that we need to make allowances for them that we don't make for other people. They can cut us off in the roda, they get food first, they can play as much as they want, you can't buy the game when they are playing, don't ask them about logistics, don't "bother" them. They are the honored guests. In the space, they are often put on chairs while others sit on the ground. Rules that apply to the rest of us don't seem to apply to them. This sets up a very obvious discrepancy in power just in the structure of events.
What I have then experienced is propositions for sex from Mestres at events. Objectification, not taking no for an answer, being grabbed, having inappropriate comments made to me to the point that I felt unsafe in the space. At a gathering after a batizado, I was talking to a mestre about Brasil and asking questions about capoeira when he began asking me to kiss him and wanted me to go find a room with him. I said no and walked away and tried to avoid him for the rest of the party. At the end, as I was leaving, he grabbed me, pushed me into a corner and shoved my hand on his erect penis. When I told my then teacher that I was harassed, he told me that if I didn't want to be harassed, I shouldn't talk to mestres at parties, because that is what happens. Being somewhat new to capoeira still, I didn't speak out about it, because I honestly didn't know what to do and I felt that I wasn't going to get support from my teacher, so who was I going to get support from?
As I got older in capoeira and became more skilled at avoiding those occurrences, including making sure I had a male friend with me at all times at batizado parties, younger capoeiristas would come to me to tell me that a mestre was trying to get her to sleep with him and she didn't know what to do because he wouldn't take no for an answer. Or asking what was up with mestre so and so because he kept trying to kiss her.
In the end, what I realized from this is that male students can talk to mestres at parties and get more information about the mestre’s own history, their own personal story, and get a different perspective on capoeira, but if a woman asks these questions, she is opening herself to sexual harassment. This is even the case when you are at workshops. I no longer feel safe asking questions of a mestre, nor do I have any desire to because of the rampant harassment I've seen and the subsequent blaming of the woman for "inviting it" by simply being in the space and asking questions.
Again, this is not every teacher. There are allies in the community. But I have not seen male allies in a position of power challenge the men who are doing this.
So what is being done about this in the community? Very little. There are occasional talks with women before an event explaining what will happen, but I have never known of a talk with visiting mestres about a zero tolerance towards sexual harassment. So again, the responsibility is being put on the victim. Saying that it is their fault that they are harassed. It is akin to saying a woman is raped because she wears a short skirt so before she goes out, her family and friends have a talk with her about not wearing short skirts so she doesn't get attacked.
The issue is not with the women. It is with the mestres who have had an entitlement to female students for decades.
What I am shocked by is that everyone knows this happens. Everyone is very aware of the situation, yet I have rarely seen it discussed at events. The few times it has been discussed that I am aware of, it is because it was brought up by me during a bate papo or I will make a post about it on social media to raise awareness and question what we can do as a community. People thank me for speaking out. They say it is so important. That they wish more people spoke out, yet they themselves remain silent.
I have had a contramestre come up and thank me for saying something, and encourage me to keep speaking out on social media and other forums, yet I have never seen him challenge a mestre about it. Perhaps he has and I don't know. I know he has expressed concern that he feels it isn't his place to speak for women. I am thankful for the support he has offered, and I am eager to have more conversations to see how allies can support women in capoeira. I am also interested in the role of the trickster using his inside influence and privileges to affect change.
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