Nigeria

Western culture all but glorifies a fuller figure. Slim anorexic models grace the covers of our magazines, and incredibly petite actresses are all over out televisions. But half way around the world, in the West African country of Nigeria, the opposite could be said to be true. Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder within their culture that glorifies a plump and voluptuous figure on their women.



The following clips from the 2006 film Phat Girlz show the story of two plus-size African American women as they encounter Nigerian men. The film chronicles their journey of self growth and acceptance to love themselves and their bodies by finding their value within a foreign culture.

In Nigerian culture a fuller figure on a woman shows good health, wealth, and status. To follow the popular ideal for female beauty, Nigerian actresses aim actually for a fuller, more voluptuous figures. Alarmingly, some  actually take weight-gain supplements and appetite boosters to achieve these curves, and the practice has become a health concern. Often before weddings, women are placed in fattening houses where they eat incredibly fattening meals various time a day in hopes of transforming their bodies into large curvy figures to delight their husbands. Unfortunately, the overeating and bingeing can have major health risks including chance of heart attack or stroke. The following clip goes into depth more about Fattening houses in Nigeria.

The practice is quite common within a culture where being female doesn't guarantee any rights.Women in Nigeria are expected to not only be major wage earners in their homes, but they are not given respect from their counterparts for doing so. Nigerian women are frequently taken for granted and their hard manual labor is often overlooked.Nigerian men actually view female work as less intensive.  Men in Nigeria have no legal responsibility for their children, leaving women with the sole responsibility of their offspring.

In regards to marriage and relationships, women cannot expect commitments or fidelity from their partners. Polygamy is practiced throughout the country and marriage is seen as a way of accumulating wealth. Even once married, women hold barely any say within their families; their husband's mother and sister hold more power. She also stands to inherit nothing from her husband either.The shame and disgrace of single motherhood and divorce falls solely on the female as well. As western values gained influence in colonial Nigeria, women lost some of their traditional rights.

The picture to the right is of King Mswati II of Swaziland who has 13 wives. 

For the most part, the women in Nigeria have not attempted to rise in their male-dominated society, therefore patriarchy continues to thrive. Women are now beginning to demand some equality. Perhaps they will be able to reconcile the rights of the past with the freedoms of a modern age as more western influence carries over. 

Brazil

Brazil... the land of beautiful women with perfect butts and amazing cleavage. The country that has blessed the world with so many of its Victoria's Secret Models. The same country that has inspired Brazilian waxing and Brazilian hair treatments. I'm sure men and women alike have some kind of preconceived notion of Brazilian beauty based on the images we see in the media: Tall, gorgeous, perfectly tan (and with tan lines from an itty bitty bikini), a voluptuous bosom, coke bottle curves, and a flat stomach. What we don't see are the extents these women go through to achieve these ideals. 

In Brazil women are guaranteed equal rights to men in every aspect, from the right to vote to equal rights in the work place. Women in Brazil in fact show a higher literacy rate than the men, make up more than half of voters in the country, and also occupy political positions. Regardless of the suppression of Brazilian women based on the official religion of the state, Roman Catholicism, women in Brazil continue to take strides for their own rights.Sexual freedom including access to birth control, and sterilization surgery are very common in Brazil for women. And this is where the problem becomes visible. The surgical procedure(s) of sterilization (tube tying or hysterectomies) is being used by over half the population as a form of contraception. Its alarming considering the countries already high rate of plastic surgery. Is going under the knife really the only option?

When the televised Carnival Parade is dedicated to a plastic surgeon (this occurred in 1999) thanking him for "awakening of the self-esteem in the ego" it's clearly a problem. Brazil has a philosophy of plastic surgery. And its understandable when the heat requires many people to dress wearing less. With bodies all out (even in the typical Carnival outfit), focusing on ones physical attributes is inevitable. So many Brazilians focus tremendously on their appearance. Looking at the Brazilian crazes that have overtaken the US, in particular Brazilian waxing where no hair is left behind, it's evident physical appearance carries much weight within this culture. The following video from Jessica Simpson's The Price of Beauty shows the extent even poverty ridden women will go through to get acheive physical perfection and satisfaction.

It's clear many Brazilian women view beauty as a necessary vanity. The South American country is the biggest consumer of diet pills in the world. The average weight of a Brazilian woman is 110–125 pounds—and the pressure to be thin leads many people to take these extreme measures. Weight is often the subject of conversations, as well as plastic surgery, and salon treatments  

Although many Brazilians have dark, wavy hair, the new trend is blonde, straight hair. Brazilian women will go through great lengths to achieve the look, going through Brazilian hair treatments that contain formaldehyde, bleaching their hair regularly and even spending a great deal of their salaries on beauty treatments. As many of you know Formaldehyde is a  proven carcinogen, and many women are exposing themselves to this toxic chemical regularly, to relax their hair.  

It's clear that in Brazil and even other areas of the world, where plastic surgery is common, that beauty is a natural right, that anyone should be able to achieve. Achieving a physical ideal here is more important than financial stability if women do not mind going broke getting there. It makes you wonder why so much weight is put on physical appearance that many will sacrifice their lives for it because they consider it to be a natural right.