Brazil carnival queen: A 7-year-old?
| S氓o Paulo, Brazil
Every year at carnival time in Brazil, one woman stands out from the thousands of others as they samba for adoring crowds and millions of TV viewers.
She is the rainha da bateria, or queen of the percussion section, one of the most coveted roles in any carnival "school." Typically the queen chosen is a glamorous and scantily clad bombshell.
But this year the Viradouro samba school has picked Julia Lira, a third-grader who likes watching soap operas and singing along to 叠别测辞苍肠茅. And that is drawing criticism from some children's rights groups.
鈥淲e are in favor of children taking part in carnival,鈥� says Carlos Nicodemus, the head of the Rio de Janeiro state council for the defense of children and adolescents. "But the role of the queen of the bateria is a highly eroticized one and we here in Rio are in the midst of a campaign to combat the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. In society today, the sexualization of children comes at an ever earlier age and is more and more common. I don鈥檛 think she should be allowed to parade.鈥�
Too young?
Mr. Nicodemus asked a judge to stop Lira from participating in the parade, saying she is too young for such a sexualized role. The judge is to rule before Viradouro walks into the Sambadrome shortly after midnight on Sunday night.
Viradouro is one of 12 samba schools who will compete Sunday and Monday for the hotly contested top prize. Each school has up to a dozen enormous floats and around 4,000 to 5,000 extravagantly costumed dancers divided into sections.
Viradouro has rejected any criticism of its decision to pick Lira as the percussion queen.
Lira is a 鈥渂eautiful, pure, and delicate child鈥� who would not be asked to fulfill the same flirtatious role of traditional queens, says Edson Pereira, the man in charge of the school鈥檚 carnival presentation.
Children vital to carnival
Many sambistas defend Lira鈥檚 presence and say children are vital to samba鈥檚 future. Indeed, one 12-year-old served as a carnival queen in 2003 and schools made entirely of children take part in the official parade of champions. No Brazilian party is complete without a precocious kid playing it up for the adults with some shuffled samba moves.
Lira鈥檚 parents are said to be shielding their daughter from the media attention and have said they don鈥檛 mind if a judge gives her the go ahead or not.
One thing, though, is certain. If young J煤lia does make it onto the avenue fronting the pounding drums and massed tambourines, she will have big shoes to fill.
Viradouro鈥檚 two previous rainhas were Juliana P茫es, one of Brazil鈥檚 biggest soap opera stars and a woman voted one of People鈥檚 100 Most Beautiful People, and Luma de Oliveira, a former exotic dancer.
