Thongs, blondes and mummies

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Buenos Aires is an interesting place, to say the least. Not that I don’t enjoy the city, I actually love it. Its unique European vibe and Latin American heart, complete with a metropolis of fiercely avid party-goers, creates quite a unique social construct and makes for an awesome night scene. But with such a distinct social construct, there are also perceptions and standards placed upon the society which can sometimes adversely affect its populace.

A lot of the guys in my study abroad group really like chicks from Buenos Aires. It is a regular topic of conversation while hanging out in our apartment building in the quaint neighborhood of Buenos Aires known as Palermo Viejo. They comment on their gorgeous Italian lineage, petite figures and mysterious manner. And I would agree that many of the Argentine women I have met are very beautiful. It is not uncommon knowledge that Buenos Aires has a strong European influence. More likely than not any Buenos Aires native will let you know that. One of the impacts this has generated is a people who take great importance in having the appearance of European good looks. You know the type: a woman with mystifying attractiveness, usually white, and always very, very skinny. So therefore, branded upon the minds of Buenos Aires youth, is the need to be thin. You need to look good to fulfill the expectations of a European society in Buenos Aires. I tend to work out in a nearby gym in Palermo Viejo, and most of the women there look like they couldn’t pick up a ten pound weight if they tried. If they did they might actually break their arms. The subject is not a huge shocker; Buenos Aires’ women are known to be beautiful and stick thin. However, the belief sometimes circulated amongst the guys in our apartment that the women in the area are tiny due to good genes and good diets are, in my opinion, false. One can quickly notice the difference when taking a trip to Rosario and comparing the more full bodied women there with the much smaller portenos. And to claim portenos lead healthy lifestyles is somewhat laughable. Those who do eat consume tons of meat and carbs (Argentina actually has the second highest rate of anorexia behind Japan). No local is complete without a matching cigarette in tow. To add to their intake are the massive amounts of alcohol consumed during their all-night escapades in which they never sleep.

A good example of the struggle to exemplify beauty is classic Argentine icon, Eva Peron. Eva Peron created an image of beauty, painstakingly ensuring that she was always a super slender, almost Virgin Mary-like presence in the eyes of her people. This included dying her hair blond and hiring professional stylists when she became popular. After her death, her corpse still personified that image. There actually is a creepy play coming out in New York, titled "Mummy in the Closet: The Return of Eva Peron”, which will tell the tale of Eva’s very bizarre life after death. Pretty weird plot for a play if you ask me.
Compare that to Brazil, where the perception of beauty is of a voluptuous, mixed woman running down Impanema beach in a thong bikini (Which helps boost its persona as the plastic surgery capital of the world). It is interesting to see such differences in neighboring countries’ views of beauty. I believe it is largely due to the difference in races that have made up each (To preface this: Argentines are comprised of more than European lineage, including African. They just would like you to think that.). Both, at one time in the past, had a strong African slave presence. However, around the time that Africans, Latin Americans, and Europeans were birthing lots of mixed Brazilian babies, Argentina’s African presence was dwindling. Several factors, including yellow fever and the Paraguayan war, may have attributed to this strange sudden drop in one single race. So while Brazil was trying to embrace its mixed populace (At least a more visually evident mixed populace than Argentina), Argentina was inviting Europeans to the new Paris of South America. The result? Two completely different structures of what is beautiful; one embracing its diversity, and another clinging to European roots.

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