The following is from the article written By Mario Osava, published by the Inter Press Service News Agency:

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.

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