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15 January 2007

Killer Doll from America

Click, maybe they get bigger. If you're lucky.

Okay, there isn't much I can add to this. If you have strong (or mild) opinions about this, Leave A Comment.

It's always tragic when people die early, but when people die early because of This -- I don't think "tragic" really captures the gist/geist of this situation.

I've TRIED to grow up to believe that the things that are the LEAST important about a human being are Size and Shape and Mass and Weight.

Obviously I am So Wrong about these beliefs that people are actually willing themselves to shrink themselves to death -- and just before they entirely vanish, they become the most admired and beloved and photographed and best paid of all human beings on Earth.

About seven years ago, one of the gifts of my TV cable system was a remarkable beauty pageant from the South American nation of Colombia. My Spanish sucks (my Portugues, if possible, is worse), but I needed no subtitles to appreciate the Miss Colombia pageant.

Up here in the largely Calvinist United States of America, the Sizeable and Free Human Female Ass is a Forbidden public image. An unfortunate North American woman may have a larger-than-permissable ass, but she hides and tames and shrinks and imprisons it scrupulously in powerful latex undergarments so no one will suspect she actually has this dangerous, frightening affliction.

But every one of the candidates for Miss Colombia -- Santa Maria y Jesuchristo! these women had the most astonishing, amazing, spectacular, wiggling, jiggling, vibrant, round and sizeable derrieres, and all Totally Liberated from constricting latex undergarments. Apparently in Colombia, there is no word for Girdle, no such garments exist there, and nobody tries to smuggle them in from more Puritanical climbes.

Sometimes the pageant camera would just entirely ignore the candidate's head, face, arms and breasts, and linger for five minutes entirely on the young woman's derriere as she strolled around the stage. The applause from the audience at these moments was thunderous and authentic. Nobody had to turn on a big sign that said: APPLAUSE

Every one of these women was competing to prove beyond any possible doubt that she had size, shape, curvature, mass and weight.

And Bob the Gringo/Yanqui had never seen ANYTHING like it. At least not in public or on TV.

Well, that was Sudamerica just seven years ago.

Here's Sudamerica today, ahora.

Leave A Comment. Let Vleeptron know your thoughts.

====================

The New York Times
Sunday 14 January 2007

In the Land of Bold Beauty,
a Trusted Mirror Cracks


by LARRY ROHTER

AS king of carnival, the corpulent Rei Momo is supposed to embody all the jollity, carnality and excess associated with that most Brazilian of bacchanals. So when the event’s reigning monarch has gastric bypass surgery, sheds 150 pounds and starts an exercise program, you begin to wonder what’s going on.

And when six young women die of anorexia in quick succession -- two in the last two weeks -- the wonder turns to bewilderment. Brazil may well be the most body-conscious society in the world, but that body has always been Brazil’s confident own -- not a North American or European one.

For women here that has meant having a little more flesh, distributed differently to emphasize the bottom over the top, the contours of a guitar rather than an hourglass, and most certainly not a twig. Anorexia, though long associated with wealthier industrialized countries, was an affliction all but unheard-of here.

But that was before the incursions of the Barbie aesthetic, celebrity models, satellite television and medical makeovers made it clear just how far some imported notions of beauty, desirability and health have encroached on Brazilian ideals once considered inviolate.

By -- ‘upgrading’ to international standards of beauty, said Mary del Priore, a historian and co-author of "The History of Private Life in Brazil," the country is abandoning its traditional belief that "plumpness is a sign of beauty and thinness is to be dreaded." The contradictory result, she added, is that "today it’s the rich in Brazil who are thin and the poor who are fat."

A generation ago, the ideal type here was Martha Rocha, a Miss Brazil from the mid-1950s. She finished second in the Miss Universe competition supposedly because her body was a bit too generous in the hips, buttocks and thighs, but since those characteristics were so highly valued here, as suggested by cartoons and the popularity of the semi-pornographic drawings of Carlos Zéfiro that circulated, it was the rest of the world whose taste was questioned.

Even the famous "girl from Ipanema," immortalized in the bossa nova song written in 1962, illustrated the cultural differences that prevailed then: only in the English lyrics is she "tall and tan and young and lovely." In the original Portuguese version, the emphasis is on "the sweet swing" of her hips and backside as she walks, a sway described as "more than a poem, the most beautiful thing I have ever seen."

Today, in sharp contrast, the epitome of beauty is Gisele Bündchen, the top model whose enormous international success has inspired the thousands of Brazilian girls who dream of emulating her to enroll in modeling schools and competitions. But very little about Ms. Bündchen’s body -- tall and blond, rangy yet busty -- connects her to her homeland and its traditional self-image.

"Hers is a globalized beauty that has nothing to do with the Brazilian biotype," said Joana de Vilhena Novaes, author of "The Intolerable Weight of Ugliness: On Women and Their Bodies" and a psychologist here. "She has very little in the way of hips, thighs or fanny. She’s a Barbie," one whose parents are of German descent.

Dr. Novaes and others have noted that during the 1960s and 70s, Brazilian girls played with a locally made doll named Susi, who, reflecting the national aesthetic, was darker and fleshier than her counterparts abroad. But in the 1970s, Barbie arrived, and by the mid-1980s, production of Susi dolls had ceased, though it has resumed in recent years in a sort of backlash.

Yet until recently no one here would ever have talked with admiration about having an hourglass figure like Barbie’s, let alone the coat-hanger physiques of the international runways. Instead, the ideal was what is known as "um corpo de violão," or "guitar-shaped body"; that is, like Susi’s, thicker in the waist, hips and fanny.

One indication of how rapidly values are changing can be gleaned from a government study released in November, just after the first in the cluster of anorexia deaths, that of Ana Carolina Reston, a 21-year-old model. According to the survey, the percentage of the population taking appetite-suppressants more than doubled between 2001 and 2005, making Brazil the world champion in the consumption of diet pills.

"The reasons are purely aesthetic, not medical, especially for women," who account for at least 80 percent of the market, said Dr. Elisaldo de Araújo Carlini, a professor at the Federal University of São Paulo who is the author of the study. "They want to get thin no matter what, all because of images from north of the Equator. It is a cruel cultural imposition on the Brazilian woman."

- 30 -

* Health Guidelines Suggested for Models (January 6, 2007)
* U.S., Italy Addressing The Health of Models (December 7, 2006)
* Skeletal' Models Create Furor Over British Vogue (June 3, 1996)
* THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING -- ADDENDA; Group Seeks Boycott Of Calvin Klein (May 4, 1994)


Related Searches

* Models (Professional)
* Anorexia Nervosa
* Mental Health and Disorders
* Brazil

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company


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The New York Times
30 December 2006

Burst of High-Profile
Anorexia Deaths
Unsettles Brazil


by LARRY ROHTER


In less than two months, four young women have died in widely publicized cases of anorexia in Brazil, causing a national debate about body image and eating disorders.

The problem is a new one here, and it clearly puzzles and shocks Brazilians. In this country, eliminating hunger among the millions of the poor has traditionally been an important political cause, so the notion that people would voluntarily starve themselves is hard for most Brazilians to comprehend.

In the latest incident, Beatriz Cristina Ferraz Bastos, a 23-year-old student and office worker, died on Christmas Eve, weighing just 75 pounds (34 kilograms). On her home page at Orkut, a popular Web site for young Brazilians, she described herself as "thin" after having been "110 pounds (50 kg) overweight" as a teenager, and included before and after photographs to prove her point.

The first death, in mid-November, was that of Ana Carolina Reston, a 21-year-old model, and it was initially regarded as an aberration. At the time of her death, Ms. Reston stood 5 feet 8 inches (173 cm) tall but weighed just over 80 pounds (36.3 kg) and was undergoing medical treatment after having collapsed at a fashion shoot in Japan.

A few days later, though, a 21-year-old fashion student also died of anorexia. At the beginning of this month, her death was followed by that of a 23-year-old manicurist, and a full-fledged media frenzy was on, with articles and television programs speculating that Brazil's obsession with physical beauty was getting out of hand.

In the clearest sign that the issue has reached public awareness, a popular television soap opera, "Pages of Life," includes a character who is a teenage ballerina suffering from bulimia. In addition, a weekly newsmagazine published a cover story last month that featured a photograph of Ms. Reston alongside a headline that read, "Inside the Mind of an Anorexic."

At the same time, though, more than 11 million families, mostly in the impoverished northeast region of the country, benefit from a government program that pays a small monthly stipend to those who do not have enough to eat. According to the national statistical office, at least 8 percent of Brazil's 185 million people are underweight, a vast majority because they are too poor to afford a proper diet.

All four of the deaths from anorexia, in contrast, have occurred in the state of São Paulo, the country's most populous, prosperous and modern. It is also the center of Brazil's booming fashion industry, which has come under pressure to take steps to protect working models and discourage ordinary girls from starving themselves in order to conform to designers' and booking agents' idea of feminine beauty.

Gisele Bündchen, a model who in recent years has been among the best known and most successful in the world, is Brazilian. Her fame and wealth are widely admired here and have prompted thousands of other young women to enroll in modeling schools and competitions, whose number has proliferated.

Last month, after Ms. Reston died, Ms. Bündchen agreed to an interview with Folha de São Paulo, a leading daily newspaper. She criticized the international obsession with thinness and urged girls who hoped to emulate her not to fall into that trap.

"Unfortunately, with the competition that exists in our milieu, a lot of girls attach more importance to work and certain notions of beauty than to their health," she said. "To go hungry in order to copy a certain standard is a big mistake and is not going to guarantee anyone's success."

The annual São Paulo Fashion Week is scheduled to be held again late next month, and organizers have said they will require proof that all participating models are at least 16 years old and that they have supplied a health certificate. They have also announced a health and anorexia awareness campaign that includes print, broadcast and Internet announcements, the distribution of fliers and talks at schools.

- 30 -

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

2 comments:

rosesred35 said...

weather is not man made. i am sick of people saying it is. God caused fires and floods, earthquakes... it is all in Matthew 24 and 2 peter chapter 3. it is a punishment for mans sins. i am a christian and i read and study bible prophecy. when we all die we all get to face the judgment seat of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and our Father God which is all one person... sorry for all who don't read their bible and try to stop something and change what can not be changed. Trying to change things form God will be a disaster to all who change what he does.

Vleeptron Dude said...

hiya rosesred35 !

hmmm you have violated the First Law of Vleeptron -- you have a nick, but you have no Real Name or Link or e-mail addie ... you're an Anonymous Driveby.

no matter ... here's the King James Version of

==========

Matthew 24

[1] And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
[2] And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
[3] And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
[4] And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
[5] For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
[6] And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
[7] For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
[8] All these are the beginning of sorrows.
[9] Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
[10] And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
[11] And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
[12] And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
[13] But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
[14] And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
[15] When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
[16] Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
[17] Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
[18] Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
[19] And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
[20] But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
[21] For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
[22] And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
[23] Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
[24] For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
[25] Behold, I have told you before.
[26] Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
[27] For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
[28] For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
[29] Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
[30] And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
[31] And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
[32] Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
[33] So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
[34] Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
[35] Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
[36] But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
[37] But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
[38] For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
[39] And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
[40] Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
[41] Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
[42] Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
[43] But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
[44] Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
[45] Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
[46] Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
[47] Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
[48] But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
[49] And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
[50] The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
[51] And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.