It depends on what you consider weird. If, in the West, we are used to seeing blonde and thin people in magazines, in other parts of the world beauty can be about weight, tattoos and accessories. “Beauty references are linked to the world view of each culture. As societies are different from each other, so are they”, explains anthropologist Mirela Berger, postdoctoral student and collaborating professor at Unicamp. But it’s worth remembering: as culture is dynamic, nothing is forever. Tastes and habits change. “In modern Western society, for example, the ease of communication between peoples favors acculturation, which is when a people absorbs a cultural model from another”, says sociologist Flávia Mestriner Botelho, master’s student in science at the Ribeirão Preto School of Nursing from USP.
You might turn your nose up, but elsewhere they are successful.
DIET… FOR FATTENING
WHERE Mauritania
STANDARD Obesity
In this West African country, extra pounds are a sign of status for women: they indicate that they don’t have to work because their husbands are rich. To fit in, some girls are sent at age 5 to fattening camps, where they consume 16,000 calories a day! The menu includes two cups of butter and 20 liters of camel milk!
>> There is also a “sentimental” explanation: the bigger the woman, the more space she would occupy in the lover’s heart
GIRAFFE SYNDROME
WHERE Myanmar
STANDARD long necks
In this Asian country, women from the Kareni tribe are famous for elongating their necks with metal rings – they force the shoulder down and give the illusion that the neck is longer. The ritual, which is gradual and begins at age 5, is falling into disuse: without the rings, the muscles can no longer support the head.
>> Most of today’s «big-necks» live illegally in refugee camps in Thailand, where they act as a «tourist attraction»
NAPA ON SHOW
WHERE Will
STANDARD western nose
Quick answer: where is the most nose job done? Whoever said Los Angeles or some Brazilian city was wrong. The champion is Tehran, in Iran. The nose is strategic for the women there because it is one of the few parts that their clothes and veils do not hide. The quest for a Westernized look also puts a lot of Iranian macho under the scalpel.
>> The craze for a western look has also spread to South Korea, where surgeries create rounder eyes with a crease in the lid
MICHAEL JACKSON EFFECT
WHERE Pakistan, Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia and India
STANDARD whitish skin
While in Brazil it’s nice to be tanned, in these countries people run away from the sun. As most have dark skin, the fashion is (trying) to be white, with the use of whitening cosmetics. Those who don’t have money even resort to pirated products, which can cause irreversible damage
FROM MOTHER TO DAUGHTER
WHERE Ethiopia
STANDARD lip deformation
No bracelets, earrings or rings. In the Mursi tribe, the most “hot” are those who wear huge discs made of wood or porcelain on their lower lip. The ornament only fits after the girl’s mother or grandmother makes a cut in the region – usually, the ritual takes place when she turns 15. In Brazil, something similar is used by the Kayapo Indians.
BATTLE OF THE SEXES
WHERE Ethiopia
STANDARD scars
Even when men also need to adhere to aesthetic modifications, the reasons are different. In the Karo tribe, they make scars on their chests to represent rivals killed in battle. Women, on the other hand, go through the same painful process, in the chest and belly, just to find a husband – who, by the way, can have as many wives as he wants.
UNDER THE SKIN
WHERE New Zealand
STANDARD tattoos on face
Maori descendants adorn themselves with tribal tattoos called moko. Men wear them on their faces, and women have blue accents on their lips and chin. If in the past this type of ornament had to do with status (the process was so painful that it could lead to death), today it represents a kind of resurgence of the typical culture
>> In the Marquesas Islands, in the Pacific, tattoos on the right hand and left foot used to indicate that the woman was married
As culture changes, aesthetic standards also change.
Prehistory Large breasts and wide hips indicated the ability to bear good children.
Rebirth After the Black Death detonated part of Europe, being fat was a sign of health
17th century Corsets reduced the waist and emphasized that women were fragile beings.
20’s Feminine emancipation preaches a less sensual look: bands flatten waists, breasts or hips, to leave them in the same proportion
40’s Tougher after World War II, women began to desire broad shoulders. At the end of the decade, Marilyn Monroe reverses the trend
60’s The hippie wave and the quest for youth lead to bodies with few breasts or curves
The 80s Cult of the healed body – including for women who wanted to look stronger
90’s The biggest object of female desire are full breasts – and silicone!
SOURCES The New York Times, The Guardian, National Geographic, Newsweek, PBS, CNN and CBS News