Looking good, the first step toward feeling good.
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My
nose is huge! Vile snub-nose, let me inform you that I am proud of such an appendange,
since a big nose is the proper sign of a friendly, good, courteous, witty, liberal
and brave man, such as I am.
From
Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmond Rostand, French playwright
(1868-1918)
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Venezuela
may be in the economic doldrums, but cosmetic surgery is booming, highlighting the
power of hidden racial discrimination and the ever-present North American concept
of beauty
A few statistics are
sometimes more telling than heavyweight sociological analysis. Venezuela has won
more international beauty contests than any other country in the past 50 years, including
five Miss World titles, four Miss Universes and countless other crowns and prizes.
This is no accident: the record is proof in Venezuela and elsewhere in Latin America
of some very deep social trends. Like in Brazil, the official line is that Venezuela
is a tolerant multiracial country. But under the surface lies a subtle racism against
the descendants of black slaves. It is expressed by an ideal of beauty which vaunts
white skin, blonde hair and light-coloured eyes.
“They come to my clinic wanting thinner noses, slightly fuller lips, big breasts,
firm bottoms and above all slimness–they all want to be slimmer,” says Dr Pedro Meneses,
a member of the Venezuelan Plastic Surgery Association.
Beauty in Venezuela has become a social value that often defines success or failure,
personally and professionally. It is a value that sits atop the many other conventions
demarcating the role of the woman in a society that has yet to accept various key
feminist principles.
Torn between racism and machismo, many women regard beauty as an efficient way to
leap upwards through the social ranks and often the only way to live.
The cult of beauty in Venezuela explains the country’s huge boom in cosmetic surgery
over the past decade. There are no official figures, but the reality is probably
similar to that described by the American Association of Plastic and Reconstructive
Surgery (AAPRS), which reports that the number of people seeking cosmetic surgery
has risen by 60 percent in the past two years. Between 1992 and 1998, the association
says, the most popular operations were liposculpture (up 264 percent), breast enlargement
through implants (up 306 percent), face lifts and nose jobs.
Beauty
budgets
Notions
of beauty, however, are constantly changing. “The ideal for the last decade has come
from the United States, which is only two hours by plane from Venezuela,” says Meneses.
“The difference is that our women are not blonde and blue-eyed, yet they struggle
to make their bodies and features resemble this white ideal. I’ve never operated
on a white woman who wanted a broader nose so she could look more like a black woman.
It always goes in the other direction.”
Despite the country’s vast oil wealth, 70 percent of Venezuelans live in poverty.
But when it’s a matter of looking good, no expense is spared. A 1999 study by the
U.S. market research firm Roper Starch Worldwide showed that Venezuelans spend a
fifth of their income on personal grooming and beauty products.
Breast surgery, one of the most common operations, costs between $1,000 and $3,500
for each implant. Given the overriding importance of appearing and feeling attractive,
even women from the poorer end of society manage to find the money needed.
More and more women between 17 and 35 are seeking not only slimmer noses and bigger
breasts, but also different shaped bodies. “They resort to surgery because they feel
socially rejected or aren’t satisfied with their image,” says Dr Alberto Salinas,
who has been operating on stomachs for more than 15 years and is one of the country’s
few experts in the field. He reduces the size of a stomach so the patient eats less
and gets thinner. “Half my patients don’t want to feel better, they just want to
look better,” he says.
Images
of success
Although
they are not fat, many teenage girls are referred to his surgery for psychological
reasons. “The social pressure is so strong that these kids swallow a box of diuretic
pills and a box of laxatives every day,” says Salinas. “When they’re doing this and
risking addiction to medication, I prefer to operate.”
Many professional people, meanwhile, turn to the operating table in the hope of improving
their social image and self-esteem. Morelia Pelayo, a successful dentist, says the
breast operation she had a few years ago changed her life: “I’ve always regarded
myself as a successful woman personally and professionally. But I had a complex about
the size of my breasts. Since the operation, I’ve dressed differently. Because this
is a Caribbean country with a lot of sunshine, I can now show off my figure to more
effect and wear dresses with a lower neckline.”
She nevertheless admits to being pushed to the big decision by the subliminal effects
of television advertising. “All the women you see there have big breasts and bottoms,
spectacular bodies and look beautiful and successful. It’s natural to want to be
like them,” she says.
Amid this confusion between being and appearing, the fascination of Venezuelans for
the quick and drastic changes the surgeon’s knife can bring is starting to become
a cultural trait–imported from abroad, yet strong enough to change the very nature
of Venezuelan society. |
