BRAZIL, OBESE OR ANOREXIC?: The New York Times had a typical trend piece this Sunday on the rising cult of thinness and the consequent tragic uptick in anorexia among young women. The article devotes much space to contrasting this development with Brazillian culture’s usual tendency to consider a plumper physique more beautiful.
Ironically the Times makes no mention of this article they ran almost two years ago to the day. The headline? “Beaches for the Svelte, Where the Calories Are Showing.” According to this piece, Brazil is experiencing an upsurge in obesity. So, it would seem that the Times has both declared Brazilians to be fond of thinness and fatness, and of getting thinner and fatter. The easy point to make would be that culture trend pieces are so shallow that it stands to reason they would completely contradict each other within the same newspaper. (OK, there I said it.)
But, upon closer examination, the two articles are actually two data points consistent with one larger trend. Increasing wealth and globalization is making Brazil more Western.