Barely there in Brazil

It's not THAT confusing, but generally Brazilians appreciate and even worship the body, while in the U.S., it's money that's objectified and adored.

In the same vein, again generally, Brazilians are happy although they don't have alot, comparatively. While in the U.S. people tend to always find things to complain about and focus on what they lack rather than what they actually have.

John Gamble
www.riotudobom.com

I'm from Brazil, and I think that primarily this has to do with the culture's loose interpretation of nudity laws, and the general propensity to shirk them (or at least push the boundaries of what is considered nudity).

Brazil is one of the largest Catholic countries, and it is illegal to be nude in public. But Brazil has lots of beautiful beaches, beautiful people, and it's really hot for a large part of the year. Add to that a history of corruption on the law enforcement and political levels, and you can see how the general public will tend to bend the rules a little. Hence, the "fio dental" is born.

The logic is that as long as you're covering the bare minimum without being nude, it's not illegal. Now, that's not to say that Brazilian culture has no gender inequality issues. Of course it does. But as you pointed out, there are a lot of strange contradictions and paradoxes to this culture, but that's what make it uniquely Brazilian. Only here can you find sexual liberation and oppression, extreme poverty next to extreme wealth, social conformity and individuality, all coexisting under a shared sense of national pride and appreciation of the ironic humor inherent in a true melting pot.

Or to sum it up: "Ordem e Progresso, abaixa as calças e faz sucesso."

It doesn't make sense, but Brazilians don't try to make sense of it. They just try to live and enjoy the ride.

Great story, Elizabeth! I'm going to share it with my women's studies class next week.

I'm so proud to see a fellow Smithie writing for globalpost -- I graduated in '99. Back when I studied in Brazil for 12 weeks during my junior year in Chile, I had a very similar experience. I wore my one-piece, and was the *only* woman on a beach of 1,000 people not wearing a bikini. I was so embarrassed to see the stares, and realized that showing skin was not such a big deal in Brazil. I subsequently went with my host mom around Sao Paulo to 10+ bathing suit stores in an attempt to find a bikini top that would fit my DD chest. Back in 1998, there were NO stores in Sao Paulo that sold tops that would support a chest larger than a C cup. I ended up buying a size medium bottom and a matching large sports bra (same color) that I tied in the middle to make look like a bikini set. I read a few years later that plastic surgery became popular and affordable in Brazil, and that the trend leaned towards larger chests, not smaller ones. I suspect that with this shift bikini tops for D-DD+ women have now become more prevalent... At least I hope ;)

Enjoy every moment of your time in Brazil!

Okay, I'm from Brazil and it's really not that bad. You don't have to wear a fio dental! I wear a regular one (granted the Brazilian regular cut is smaller than an American one) and there's no problem. At least it doesn't look like I'm wearing poopy a diaper on the beach! Anyway, this was very well written despite my disagreement with the fact that every brazilian girl wears a fio dental!