Body+Image+of+Brazilian+Women

 Brazil is often characterized as an oasis of beautiful, sprawling, white sandy beaches filled with exotic, bronzed, perfect bodies. This characterization depicts a culture that places high value on beauty and aesthetics, and as such, body image serves as a driving force behind Brazil’s seemingly perfect-bodied population. Brazil, a country whose population results from racial mixing between European, Native American and African people, celebrates beauty and its “pretty people” who are products of this mixing (Edmonds, 2007). Even more, upholding this beauty standard has led to a booming plastic surgery industry, where Brazilians seek to continue their country’s legacy of beautiful, perfect bodies (Edmonds, 2007). This standard is held to such high esteem that even some job descriptions include requirements such as the need for an “excellent figure” and “excellent physical appearance” indicating a notion of [|body politics], where a woman's body is her ultimate ticket to success (Forbes, Jung, Vaamonde, Omar, Paris, & Formiga, 2012).
 * Brazilian Women **

 In Brazil, women are socialized to be obsessed with appearance particularly their bodies (Forbes et al., 2012). The expectation that women have youthful, perfect bodies is referred to as “body cult” (Forbes et al., 2012). This cult creates an environment where body image is a constant issue for Brazilian women. According to a study conducted by Forbes et al. (2012), 80 percent of their sample Brazilian female population expressed body dissatisfaction. Another study conducted by da Cunha Feio Costa, de Assis Guedes de Vasconcelos and Glazer Peres (2010) found a significant association between body dissatisfaction and abnormal eating among a population of college-aged Brazilian women. A culture of “body cult” can lead to extreme practices such as poor eating habits and plastic surgery in efforts to maintain or achieve perfect body status. The body cult culture has led to epidemic levels of body dissatisfaction with 67 percent of women reporting such dissatisfaction (Finger, 2003). Body cult can essentially mean that body image for Brazilian women is not simply a personal perception, but rather a reflection of cultural standards that women are nearly forced to uphold.
 * Body Cult **

Mariela Rosario explains why Brazilian women feel pressured to be thin in //[|Latina]//.



 Prior to the globalization of U.S. and Western European media, Brazilians preferred a body described as “the guitar” with full hips, thighs and buttocks and relatively small breasts as opposed to the “Barbie” standard represented in Euro-American culture (Forbes et al., 2012). However, U.S. and Western European media has made a profound impact on body image in Brazil leading to a drastic change in the body-type ideal (Forbes et al., 2012). The new body type featuring a thin body and large breasts has become the standard (Forbes et al., 2012). Thinness is now associated with success, perfection and sexual attractiveness as a result of the unrelenting messages commonly found in U.S. and Western European media (Forbes et al., 2012). This change can also be attributed to the change in the economic landscape in Brazil, where food and resources are no longer as scarce (Forbes et al., 2012). Historically, a thinner body was associated with poverty, weakness, illness and reduced reproductive ability due to food shortages and fewer resources, and therefore, larger bodies were associated with health and wealth and valued as such (Forbes et al., 2012). Economic stability leads to a thinner body ideal, as people are no longer in fear of starvation as is the case in Brazil.
 * Media Influence **

 Brazil has the second highest number of plastic surgery procedures in the world (Forbes et al., 2012). Lower costs, extended payment plans and a national health insurance program that covers plastic surgery makes it accessible for even lower-income individuals (Forbes et al., 2012). It is the only country to include plastic surgery in its national health insurance plan, because Brazilians’ desire for beauty is considered a cultural necessity (Edmonds, 2007). Some citizens even qualify for [|free plastic surgery] due to the imperative nature of beauty. It is the second largest market for Botox in the world garnering $30 million each year (Finger, 2003). In the last 10 years, there has been a 20 percent increase in plastic surgery procedures numbering 370,000 each year (Finger, 2003). Plastic surgery is so pervasive in Brazil that this year's [|casting call] for carnival required that natural-breasted women only apply. Brazil is also the world’s top seller of diet and weight loss pills (Forbes et al., 2012). Plastic surgeons report that accessibility of plastic surgery provides self-esteem to those suffering from poverty in a still unequal society (Edmonds, 2007). Allowing everyone to have the opportunity to share in body cult reduces the division between rich and poor.
 * Plastic Surgery **

Read more about [|Miss Brazil], a beauty pageant contest who has had an astounding 19 cosmetic procedures.

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 Brazil is a culture that places extremely high value on body image and beauty even to the point that plastic surgery is considered a necessary effort to maintain and achieve “perfection.” Educators and practitioners need to understand the importance of such in order to avoid overly pathologizing what can be considered an “obsession” with looks. A thorough understanding of the culture of beauty, aesthetics and body cult is necessary before working with Brazilian women on this topic. One would need to put into context the feelings, self-esteem and potential ostracizing that can occur when someone does not fit within these cultural standards. A Brazilian woman can even risk losing employment due to her appearance. Therefore, extreme care would have to be taken in order to approach this topic in a culturally sensitive manner.
 * Intercultural Competence **

References

Edmonds, A. (2007). ‘The poor have the right to be beautiful’: Cosmetic surgery in

 neoliberal Brazil, The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 13(2),

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> 363-381. Retrieved from []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> 4622954

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">da Cunha Feio Costa, L., de Assis Guedes de Vasconcelos, F., & Peres, K. (2010).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> Influence of biological, social and psychological factors on abnormal eating

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> Attitudes among female university students in Brazil. Journal of Health,

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> Population & Nutrition, 28(2), 173-181.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Finger, C. (2003). Brazilian beauty. Lancet.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Forbes, G., Jung, J., Vaamonde, J., Omar, A., Paris, L., & Formiga, N. (2012). Body

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> dissatisfaction and disordered eating in three cultures: Argentina, Brazil and

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;"> the U.S. Sex Roles, 66(9/10), 677-694. Doi:10.1007/s1199-011-0105-3