“Rio for Partiers” Wrist Slap Angers Cariocas
By Karen Shishiptorova, Contributing Reporter
Cristiano Nogueira, founder of Rio for Partiers, photo by Douglas de Barros.
The brouhaha was due to the section classifying Carioca girls into four categories, namely, (sic) “Britney Spears, Hippie or Raver, thirty year-old and ‘Popouzuda’.” The latter are described as “big butted sex machines.” This type was also quoted as “good to invest your time on, since the motel is always a possibility with these honeys.”
However, on June 16, Judge José Luis Castro Rodriguez of the 21st Federal Court overruled Embratur´s request, causing outrage within the Carioca community, particularly amongst women and families. The Judge´s ruling stated that “the simple classification of Brazilian women – or men – into ´types´, according to criteria, theoretically, linked to their sexual behavior, does not actually violate National Tourism policies or undermine the dignity of the human person.”
Cristiano Nogueira, Brazilian born – author, editor, founder and co-owner of Editora Solcat, Ltda. – offered, “To say there are women who dress in a flashy way to draw attention to themselves is not sexual tourism; this is our culture,” as told to Folha de São Paulo. As for the logo infringement, he noted, “In 2005, I included the logo to help promote their new trademark and it ended up being interpreted in another way.”
Legal or not, the book contains other questionable sentences. A beach passage mentions: “…don´t order a beer just yet, butt-watch instead,” as well as “…while you wait for a butt to pass by, read this book.” Illustrated with full back-view photos of girls in bathing suits, one wonders if the publisher obtained copyright permission from the girls photographed, as he did not find it essential when using Embratur´s trademark.
The guide goes on to say that Bossa Nova is “especially good to listen to after sex” and that “forró is more of an excuse to clutch a woman.” One can easily perceive it as a guide catering to a male audience looking for sexual adventures in Brazil.
Permeated by crass grammatical errors, both in its English and Portuguese versions available on the internet, the guide is also filled with misconceptions and incorrect data. On the facts page, Xuxa is Pelé´s ex-wife, Zona Norte is sheer poverty and not worth visiting, and Barra da Tijuca is a Zona Sul neighborhood.
Described in the book as a “writer and publisher who lived in Rio, Vienna and Chicago,” Mr. Nogueira claims to have received “three international awards” from the North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA), self-described as “the world’s premier professional association of writers, photographers and editors.” However, according to an information request filed with the LA County Registrar, NATJA is the fictitious business name for Apollo Interactive LLC. of Culver City, California, listed as an Internet Advertising, Web Development and E-Business Integration company owned by three University of Southern California graduates. All Apollo travel clients are casinos, such as Luxor Las Vegas and Monte Carlo.
I have to take issue with this very unbalanced report. I first read the book when I arrived in Rio 2 years ago and found it a great youth-focused introduction to the most popular bars, clubs, restuarants and indeed, that unique carioca culture. It’s an amusing, light-hearted guide that has helped many of my friends (male and female) find their feet in Rio. Yes it is written by a male and as a consequence you could argue that slightly more comments seem to be directed towards males rather than females but similiar comments are made in the ‘carioca boys’ section about men. In addition, I agree with the writer when he says that ‘Bossa Nova is especially good after sex’ . What exactly is wrong with that statement? I wholeheartedly agree with it. As for the grammatical errors part of things, I have seen English and especially American publications written by nationals from those countries with far more grammatical errors than this book contains. Cariocas themselves read this book as it is often bought as presents for foreign friends and is used by many cariocas themselves so I am very curious as to where you are getting these ‘angry carioca’ opinions to back up the tone of your article.
Dear reader:
We acknowledge your comment and are sorry to hear that you find the report to be unbalanced. As you will find in my answers below, we hold true to the standard practices of journalism in checking and double checking our sources.
It would suffice to say it angered the Tourism Board enough to sue, demanding the book removed from the shelves until the case was heard, which is a rare occurrence in Brazil.
However, to back up the report even further, the Rede Globo network recently aired the story on its Jornal Hoje, interviewing people on the streets of Rio, who verbally expressed their anger – especially women and teenage parents – who were very upset about the depiction of women in the book.
The bulletin boards on the Internet – in Portuguese – also portray this. If you check them carefully, as this reporter did, you will find that, indeed, Cariocas felt quite offended by some of the book´s content, being it legal or not.
As for the most popular bars, clubs and restaurants listed thereon, I find it relevant to mention that they all paid to be there. Therefore, the establishments featured are, in fact, paid advertising – but unfortunately the author chose not to inform this to his readers. Moreover , on page eight, on how to call overseas, it mentions only one long distance carrier, instead of all 19 providers, some with better rates. Again, such exclusivity was paid for. However none of it was mentioned, since this was not the subject of the report.
Regarding the bossa nova comment on the book, being or not good after a sexual interlude is not an issue, except that sex subjects fit not in a tourism guide. This country – particularly Rio – spend millions of taxpayer´s money yearly to dissuade sexual tourism, especially involving minors. It is also worth mentioning that, according to the Brazilian Child and Teenager Code (Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente) that means from 0 to 21 years of age, and also includes taking pictures of minors, with or without their consent. A foreigner was arrested here for doing so, and upon stating that he was just taking pictures of the beach, police found hundreds of minor pictures in his camera and he was booked. Since it´s a guide for the young tourist here, I personally find this information should have been included in the book. However, again, this was not the subject of the report.
It is true that many foreigners like the guide. However, locals also have the right not to, and that also must be taken into account since this is their home. The Tourism Board and a significant sample of the locals found the judge´s ruling inadequate – and this, indeed, was the subject of the report – not to be mistaken with a book review.
Most foreigners are unaware of the fact that this is a Catholic, conservative country. Do a Rio church tour on a Sunday and you´ll find them jammed packed throughout the entire city, with a good portion of the people who enjoy the beach, arts and the nightlife scenes.
As exposed, the research I have done on this article, plus the important national press that backs it up, leaves no doubt it is 100% accurate.
We appreciate your participation and input.
The Gringo Times
Hi Guys!
I completely agree with Ed Horgan, I like very much that guide and it’s very funny and useful. That classification of cariocas (women and man) are very interesting and …. so realistic! But there’s another class of carioca women, that I can introduce to you. Ladies and gentlemen the …. “intellectual”!!!
The intellectual: she deeply hates everything is carnival, novelas, gringos, samba or bikini. She is sad that Brazil isn’t Norway or Switzerland, where people do a lot of civilized things like eating gorgonzola. Stay with her only if you want to spend your holiday talking about war in Afghanistan, Mother Theresa of Calcutta, PhD Dissertation. Say to her that the sexyest part of brazilian girl is the brain, and that bossa nova is perfect to listen making bricolage house-works.
Guys, people that doesn’t like that guide can buy another one, because nobody force you to buy that! That guide it’s “for parties”, and parties evoke a relaxed atmosphere, informal and ironic. For the others, surely there’s something like “Rio for families”.
Sorry for my English because I’m not a English-speaking-gringo. Why you don’t pass to portugues? It’s should can be nice for the other gringos and principally for Brazilians people!
De qualquer forma parabens pela inciativa.
Just to answer a few points you have mentioned. Everybody is entitled to their opinion and maybe there are some women who don’t like the depiction of women in the book and equally, there are plenty of women who are quite flattered. Also, we have to remember that the guide talks about men in much the same way. When London for Partiers is released I very much look forward to tongue in cheek descriptions of Londoners also.
Concerning the bars and restaurants – they didn’t all pay to be in the book because I have spoken to some of the owners of one or two of these establishments and they emphatically deny this – I know the owners of some of these establishments personally and can give you their details if you wish to contact me by email.
However, I do need to add that it would be very naive for anyone to think that guidebooks do not accept incentives – financial or otherwise – to be persuaded to feature a particular bar or restaurant – this is a very normal and inevitable practice where guides are concerned. Even bearing this in mind, the places that are featured really ARE the kind of clubs and bars that a 20-30 readership would be interested in – they are amongst the most popular in Rio – so I don’t see the problem even if it is the case.
To add something else here, Arco de Teles, Rua do Mercado, Lapa, Ipanema Beach & Baixo Gavea are just some of the places recommended by the writer to go out during various week nights – do you really think that these places which have a disparate collection of bars conglomerated together and paid the writer to be featured in the guide?? I kind of doubt that very much.
‘Sex subjects fit not in a tourist guide’ Personally I disagree. If the readership of the guide are 18-30, many of whom may be single, then advice about where to take a guy/girl if you meet one and the cultural do’s and don’ts of communicating with them is extrememly helpful and this is what seperates it from a guide written for a family for instance. Let’s be realistic – young people have sex and when they are on holiday the idea of meeting someone for a fling is part of the excitement.
I think it is fundementally wrong to associate young people enjoying themselves with sexual tourism which is what you seem to be doing in your report and comment. A real sexual tourist would be INCREDIBLY disappointed with this guide as it does not detail brothels and the like.
Just to sign off, I´d like to mention your recommendation to go on a church tour. I find it hard to believe that the churches are full of people who have been in nightclubs and bars the night before – more likely on the beach nursing a hangover. However, though tours like that wouldn’t interest anyone I associate with, both Brazilian and foreign, my nerdy impulse took me to Mosteiro de São Bento and the Catedral in the centre about 18 months ago……places recommended by Rio for Partiers funnily enough…not sure if they paid to be featured either……:))
Dear readers,
Again, thank you for your readership and participation, and if the article appeared biased or negative in reporting the incident it was not the intention of The Rio Times to judge the “Rio for Partiers” publication.
We acknowledge that many Cariocas and Gringos enjoy the book, and do not find any negative representations (and certainly don’t associate it with sexual tourism). Our report was only trying to cover that it is a popular guide book and that Brazil’s Tourism Board filed a lawsuit against them.
We apologize if we gave an unbalanced report, and neglected some of the positive aspects of the publication.
Thank you again for your participation and input.
Stone Korshak
Publisher
The Rio Times
I also enjoyed the article and the reader’s rebuttals. The writer may have included too much personal opinion in the article, but this opened the door for a lively debate.
Dear Mr Korshak,
Please allow me to congratulate you for your apology for having published Ms Shishiptorova’s singularly personal and unbalanced report.
I look forward to a more balanced report by The Gringo Times on the simply absurd injunction just issued by the appelate court in the matter.
Dear Karen (if I may), please lighten up! Having now seen Solcat’s website, I wish I had had “Rio for Partiers” on hand when I visited Rio (often) while single or married, in my 20s, 30s, or 40s!
Pois a carioca que se aproxima do turista em lugar público não é mesmo popozuda, balzaquiana, hippie/raver, patricinha, ou intelectualóide (thanks, Antonio)? Ah, não! Tem também as prostitutas evidentes, que o autor se esqueceu de citar…
I really liked Karen’s comments. Is it a coincidence or everyone writing against it are male? As it will certainly be the ones who like it. And chauvinists too, by the way. I am glad Embratur won its case. Shame on you, and on the Gringo Times editor as well!
The book say’s “Rio for Partiers” ! It is not you typical tour book. It’s easy to understand for most visitors to Rio. This book allows visitors to go around Rio without having their head stuck in a tour book looking like they are lost. In the book section about different places to party or have a nice quit place to go this book will help visitors find these places. The section discribing male and females is like a quick quide line as far as looking for party guys or girls to party with. I know Cris could have added the “house wife/husban, straight girl/guy , I.B.M girl/guy, he would have. But this book is geared for “PARTIERS”. Visitors know all the female or males are not like the lawsuit suggests. And respect that. Do the same people have a problem with discriptions of woman or men when they see all the “Playboy or Sex” magazines in the newspaper stands near the bus stops or on the streets along Rua Visconde de Piraja file law suits against them? Long story short, if you are not a Partier or don’t have a sense of humor what are you doing looking at this book for? This book brings more visitors to Rio for all kinds of reasons and no other tour book does this. It’s good for business in Rio since it tells visitor’s to shop, see dentest, plastic surgeons, fashion, hotels, resturants. That’s why it is good! So relax! All of us visitors love Rio and “respect the woman and men” know matter what any publication discribes them as! Cris; You are the Best!!!! P.S.-Put the book down if you are not a PARTIER!
To the Brasilian Tourism Board, if it wasn’t for books like Rio for Partiers, you would be out of business. We need all kinds of ways to bring tourism to Brasil, so leave it alone. This book is a friend that is helping bring all kinds tourism and business in Rio.
Sounds like a messy book that should be left aside. Must be a pile of better books about Rio, why buy one that is so downright commercial!
This book is RUBBISH and should be burned!
Get my name off Google saying nice things about this book!
I did NOt say that this book is a friend and that it´s bringing nice people to Rio,
I said the OPPOSITE!!! This book is badly written and there are MUCH better books on the market.