The color of beauty. Race and it’s representation in contemporary Brazil.

Abstract

Brazils population is born out of mestiçagem, racial mixture, but in not one other Latin American country is this mestiçagem culture so frequently considered object of debate. The representation of different racial groups in the media still doesn’t nearly approximate reality and therefore doesn’t use its range of possibilities to reach the public and represent contemporary Brazilian society. Girls in the magazines are represented similarly to the ones in European and Northern American magazines, even though this is not the beauty Brazilian girls want to obtain. How does this unequal representation affect the racial identity of young Brazilian females? The majority of my informants don’t feel affected by this unequal representation. Nonetheless mulata, morena and negra informants would want change their physical appearance to a more European or Northern American archetype, keeping in mind a lighter appearance opens a pathway to more socio economic progress.