The girl who´s on the cover of Playboy´s Brazilian edition sat today by my side at the theatre – she took her three daughters to watch a children´s play, “Os Saltimbancos“, a version of the “Four Musicians of Bremen” with songs by Chico Buarque. Fernanda Young, a foul-mouthed writer and TV hostess is definitely not your conventional pin-up. She is almost forty, all covered in tattoos, extremely pale, with short dark hair, with a tendence of dropping names of depressing German philosophers. Her cover picture is also unusually discreet for Playboy´s standards in the country.
Brazilian beauty for export – Gisele Bündchen, Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrósio, Isabeli F0ntana, you name it – represents a very small fraction of the diversity of looks of a country of extremely varied genetics. For decades, Brazilian press and soap operas were also blind to this variety. Slender blondes are still disproportionately present on the video and magazines.
This is slowly changing. At this exact moment, black actresses star three soap operas broadcasted by Globo, the dominant media conglomerate. This is huge in a country where TV is crucial in the definition of trends, habits, beliefs and preferences.
Maybe Brazil is ready to export its “out-of-the-box” beauty.
Adriana Lima is my favorite Victoria Secret model. She has perfect curves and a very pretty face.`”-
I believe that foreigns definitely have the impression that upon landing in Brazil, one might be facing off to an army of gorgeous natives. But actually visiting (and now living here) I realize, as you mentioned, there are all shapes, sizes and colors. Interesting how perceptions are formed. And how they stick.
I think I discussed this somewhere else in the blog, Born Again Brazilian. People tend to think the world the easiest way possible, through stereotypes, which causes all the problems we now. I am tempted myself to go that way sometimes, because it helps making eye-catching headlines – such as You know you are Brazilian when… I think it is the sort of tool that can be used once in a while, but with lots, lots of caution.