Do you understand the context of "putaria" turning up in so many baile funk songs? I don't know Portuguese, and Google Translate says it means "brothel," but it must have a broader slang meaning to come up so often.
Looking at the letras.mus.br translations of (one version of) "Bota Na Pipokinha", "putaria" becomes "debauchery" in English, "perversión" in Spanish, "Lust" in German, and "hoeren" in Dutch…
Belated response, I think Steve is absolutely right that putaria is a crucial, hot-button word, and I don't know its literal meaning – assuming there is one – much less its cultural overtones any better than you do. (1) I go with "whoring" as my personal translation (v. to whore).
(2) I think that in my "meta paragraph" on my Ari Falcão post I don't give enough credit to the teacher's-pet write-ups I was criticizing, or at least I should consider that Pipokinha and Falcão are grabbing for themselves what are conventionally *male* roles. Okay, I don't know if their attitudes and behavior are that of typical favela chicks, albeit very talented ones, or if they're stepping into roles that are genuinely less open to women and are more socially dangerous for them. They're just as worthy of praise if they're the former (typical favela chicks), but I'm kind of hoping they're the latter (stepping into the socially dangerous) not just 'cos that makes them more romantic, but 'cos it makes them – whether they know it or not – potential intellectuals. (My second country choice after KT Oslin for Tom's World Cup of 1996 was Mindy McCready's "Guys Do It All The Time" where she's doing the out-of-control, hedonist things that young men supposedly can get away with. Ironic given her sad subsequent history. I hope Pipokinha and Ari have happier lives.)
(3) Now I'm speculating even more, with even less grounding, but I think "putaria" might play a social role similar to what the verb "to party" played among some teenagers in the 1970s and 1980s* (lead singer: "San Francisco, do you know how to party?" [roar of ascent from the crowd]). Sorry for my shoddy scholarship here; I don't have a copy of Donna Gaines's Teenage Wasteland, but I was struck by a passage where a TV crew was interviewing some burnouts in northern New Jersey, don't remember what about, maybe just what they did on weekends, but the kids were mumbling some stuff about wanting to party, which was coming across as almost incoherent, but the TV people weren't getting that what the kids were trying to articulate was essentially *religious*, an ethic maybe of purpose and self-worth and cultural identification. Which doesn't preclude the favela guys and gals being rowdy and wiseass (not to mention conformist); religion can include rowdiness. And maybe some people who say "putaria" are expressing something they're deeply committed to, others are just mouthing the words, and either way it can matter similarly. (Muddy Waters stayed faithful to his wife, but nonetheless "rollin' stone" meant something real and exciting, probably not just to the women in the clubs on the west side of Chicago but probably to Muddy himself.)
*And maybe still.
(4) I should see if Gabe, Luca, or Felipe have any insights to share.
(5) No doubt you've already guessed this, but MC Pipokinha grew up about 300 miles south of São Paulo in a Mormon family where nonreligious music was forbidden.
Steve, I'm about to post my speculative responses to your "putaria" question right beneath Brad's reply. Telling you this because I don't know if Substack's notifications are sophisticated enough to inform you of replies to replies. Anyway, smart question (that I don't actually know how to answer).
Thanks! I did receive these replies. Two years after I made that initial post, it seems as though "putaria" means something akin to "lust" as a Christian concept, and funk MCs are flipping it around as a source of pride and energy. But I'm guessing without understanding the full context.
Do you understand the context of "putaria" turning up in so many baile funk songs? I don't know Portuguese, and Google Translate says it means "brothel," but it must have a broader slang meaning to come up so often.
Looking at the letras.mus.br translations of (one version of) "Bota Na Pipokinha", "putaria" becomes "debauchery" in English, "perversión" in Spanish, "Lust" in German, and "hoeren" in Dutch…
Belated response, I think Steve is absolutely right that putaria is a crucial, hot-button word, and I don't know its literal meaning – assuming there is one – much less its cultural overtones any better than you do. (1) I go with "whoring" as my personal translation (v. to whore).
(2) I think that in my "meta paragraph" on my Ari Falcão post I don't give enough credit to the teacher's-pet write-ups I was criticizing, or at least I should consider that Pipokinha and Falcão are grabbing for themselves what are conventionally *male* roles. Okay, I don't know if their attitudes and behavior are that of typical favela chicks, albeit very talented ones, or if they're stepping into roles that are genuinely less open to women and are more socially dangerous for them. They're just as worthy of praise if they're the former (typical favela chicks), but I'm kind of hoping they're the latter (stepping into the socially dangerous) not just 'cos that makes them more romantic, but 'cos it makes them – whether they know it or not – potential intellectuals. (My second country choice after KT Oslin for Tom's World Cup of 1996 was Mindy McCready's "Guys Do It All The Time" where she's doing the out-of-control, hedonist things that young men supposedly can get away with. Ironic given her sad subsequent history. I hope Pipokinha and Ari have happier lives.)
(3) Now I'm speculating even more, with even less grounding, but I think "putaria" might play a social role similar to what the verb "to party" played among some teenagers in the 1970s and 1980s* (lead singer: "San Francisco, do you know how to party?" [roar of ascent from the crowd]). Sorry for my shoddy scholarship here; I don't have a copy of Donna Gaines's Teenage Wasteland, but I was struck by a passage where a TV crew was interviewing some burnouts in northern New Jersey, don't remember what about, maybe just what they did on weekends, but the kids were mumbling some stuff about wanting to party, which was coming across as almost incoherent, but the TV people weren't getting that what the kids were trying to articulate was essentially *religious*, an ethic maybe of purpose and self-worth and cultural identification. Which doesn't preclude the favela guys and gals being rowdy and wiseass (not to mention conformist); religion can include rowdiness. And maybe some people who say "putaria" are expressing something they're deeply committed to, others are just mouthing the words, and either way it can matter similarly. (Muddy Waters stayed faithful to his wife, but nonetheless "rollin' stone" meant something real and exciting, probably not just to the women in the clubs on the west side of Chicago but probably to Muddy himself.)
*And maybe still.
(4) I should see if Gabe, Luca, or Felipe have any insights to share.
(5) No doubt you've already guessed this, but MC Pipokinha grew up about 300 miles south of São Paulo in a Mormon family where nonreligious music was forbidden.
Steve, I'm about to post my speculative responses to your "putaria" question right beneath Brad's reply. Telling you this because I don't know if Substack's notifications are sophisticated enough to inform you of replies to replies. Anyway, smart question (that I don't actually know how to answer).
Thanks! I did receive these replies. Two years after I made that initial post, it seems as though "putaria" means something akin to "lust" as a Christian concept, and funk MCs are flipping it around as a source of pride and energy. But I'm guessing without understanding the full context.