BRAZIL:
The Body Beautiful -
Women’s Ladder to
Success
By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO (IPS) -
Brazilians, especially
women, are among the
global leaders in taking
meticulous care of their
bodies and exhibiting
them to advantage. This
is a significant factor
in climbing social and
economic ladders,
establishing identities
and competing
successfully in markets,
from employment to
romance.
The result is explosive
growth in the beauty
industry, frenzied
consumption of cosmetics
and slimming products,
enthusiasm for exercise
programmes and
widespread use of
plastic surgery, even
among teenagers.
This cult of physical
perfection is a central
research theme for
anthropologist Mirian
Goldenberg, a professor
at the Federal
University of Rio de
Janeiro, who has just
launched a book, "O
corpo como capital" (The
Body as a Capital
Asset), in which she
takes her analysis
further.
But not any kind of body
is an acceptable capital
asset. It must be
"young, slim and well
sculpted," which
requires costly
"investments," such as
many hours of systematic
exercise, rigid diets,
and cosmetics for the
skin, hair and every
part of the body,
according to the
anthropologist.
Well-off, middle- and
lower-income women
"invest heavily in their
bodies," Goldenberg told
IPS.
This is "a Brazilian
characteristic" that
contrasts with, say,
Germany, where women
cultivate different
values, but which also
can be found in a less
intense form in other
Latin American
countries, and in
Mediterranean countries
in Europe, she said.
Preoccupation with the
body mobilises an army
of professionals, from
nutritionists to
personal fitness
trainers. If these are
powerless to help,
doctors or pharmacists
step in with
amphetamines, appetite
suppressants, hormones,
anabolic steroids and
also surgery.
Current standards of
beauty can induce women
to pursue slimness to
the point of obsession,
and this has resulted in
a substantial rise in
eating disorders like
bulimia and anorexia.
Brazil has the highest
per capita consumption
of weight-reducing
medication, according to
the United Nations
International Narcotics
Control Board (INCB).
Its market for fitness
gyms, cosmetics and
plastic surgery vies
with that of the United
States. But considering
that incomes are 14
times higher in the
United States, Brazil’s
expenditure in these
areas is hugely out of
proportion.
Brazil is a major
exporter of
professionals who depend
on their bodies for a
living. Kaká, Ronaldinho
and Robinho are national
brand names in the
wealthy world of
European football, as is
Gisele Bündchen in the
glamorous world of
fashion.
Brazilian women’s
penchant for exposing as
much of their bodies as
possible is not a sign
of "liberation, but a
kind of prison, a
restriction on freedom,"
because they subject
themselves to a body
image of "thinness and
perfection," and to a
set of standards that
must be met in order for
the "sacrifice" to be
rewarded, Goldenberg
said.
This state of affairs
accentuates the
inequalities which are
also prominent in
Brazil. Women are the
worse affected, because
"men have to work at
accumulating other kinds
of capital; they can’t
rely only on one to
secure prestige and
power." The investment
capacity of different
social classes is also
unequal.
In Brazil, "inequality
is written upon the
body," the
anthropologist said.
Women are studying more
than men in Brazil,
indicating that they are
also "investing" in
intellectual capital,
but furthering their
education does not
exempt them from shaping
their bodies. "The
market and society
demands it, even of
women who don’t depend
on their bodies for a
living; for instance, no
woman can appear with
grey hair," said
Goldenberg.
Brazilian women of
prestige all have
well-tended bodies,
according to the
anthropologist, who is
now studying how the
body culture which is
part of the national
identity will cope with
the current ageing of
the population.
Since the 1980s, the
most highly admired
women in the country
have been blonde, as
well as beautiful and
slender, "but not
fragile." Actresses,
fashion models,
television presenters
and singers feed girls’
and teenagers’ dreams of
upward social mobility.
The most obvious example
today is supermodel
Bündchen.
The trend for the future
is the "accentuation" of
the obsession with the
body, but with a "more
critical" attitude,
arising from a hoped-for
"educational and
cultural development"
among Brazilian people,
leading them to
cultivate "other forms
of capital" as well,
Goldenberg said.
Overemphasis on slim,
shapely bodies is not
only a Brazilian
phenomenon; "it also
exists in the world’s
great cities," Thais
Corral told IPS, on the
basis of her frequent
international trips as
founder and director of
two organisations
devoted to women’s
rights and sustainable
development.
The "hedonism" of the
younger generations and
the growth of
competition worldwide
demand that more
attention be paid to
"image and appearance"
everywhere, she said.
Depending on climate and
culture, the body itself
is the focus in tropical
Rio de Janeiro, whereas
in cold countries,
clothes are more
important, said Corral,
who is also chair of the
Brazilian Association
for Leadership
Development (ABDL). |
