The Correlation Between Current Brazilian Beauty Standards...

Before understanding the correlation between current Brazilian beauty standards and racial whitening, I need to establish modern day beauty norms and epitomes in Brazil. The first, most obvious, westernized beauty norm in Brazil is hair. The majority of Brazilians have dark, curly hair; However, it is deemed more beautiful to have straight, lighter hair. Edmonds cites in his ethnography, â€Å"†¦the cultural rule seems to be the straighter (and often blonder) the better†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Edmonds, 143) when referring to beauty ideals. Although, most women in Brazil have curly hair, it is considered a â€Å"rarity† for women to be seen with curls because curls are known to Brazilians as a â€Å"black hairstyle† ( Edmonds 150-151). Additionally, there is a common saying in†¦show more content†¦This perpetuates the stereotype that African features are less appealing. The goal of many Brazilian women is to have lighter skin. This interest has sparked a rise in the use of skin-lightening creams in Brazil. Skin-whitening products are estimated at a three-billion-dollar industry worldwide (Charleston, 2016). Despite the dangers from the chemicals in such products, Brazilians continue to use them in order to achieve the societal construction of beauty. White and colored people continue to maintain the principle that lighter skin is more beautiful. A modern example of this unjust practice is Emma Watson’s modeling for a Lancà ´me product. Watson was the face of a skin lightning product which promised â€Å"pearl perfect whiteness† (Charleston, 2016). Not only is the concept of changing skin colors to adapt to beauty standards unfair, the model they chose was naturally born very pale; So, it is a completely unattainable and unrealistic goal to have skin like her if the consumer is someone with a darker complexion. Many Brazilian celebriti es have been criticized for having appeared to have lightened or altered their skin. For example, famous soccer star, Neymar da Silva Santos Jà ºnior, was criticized after pictures surfaced from when he was young up until about two years ago; In those photos, he looked Black. Once he started to become famous, he showed more and more common â€Å"white† characteristics, especially in his complexion (Parbhala, 2014). Neymar was once asked if he