Playful Digital Narratives by Black Women Domestic Workers in the Social Media Account ‘@Faxina Boa’ [Good Cleaning]

Abstract

This paper examines how Verônica Oliveira, a Black domestic worker and content creator, utilized social media under the username @faxinaboa (2016–2022) to contest the enduring gendered and racial power dynamics rooted in colonial structures around domestic work in Brazil. Through “digital alchemy” (Bailey, 2013; 2021), during a time marked by personal hardships and far-right policies in the country, Oliveira created playful digital narratives that asserted the right of marginalized individuals to produce humor and have fun. This research investigates Oliveira’s creative use of memes, parodies, puns, and wordplay using a close qualitative reading of @faxinaboa’s content on Facebook and Instagram. Drawing on the concept of the “playful citizen” (Lammes et al., 2015; 2019), which explores civic and political engagement through playful interactions, this study argues that Oliveira’s digital narratives emphasized the importance of domestic work and acknowledged the multifaceted humanity of Black women domestic workers.

Keywords

• @faxinaboa
• Veronica Oliveira
• Domestic Work
• Black Brazilian Women