Let’s take a lesson from the CEO of party-down countries: Brazil. My colleague, Dr. Marty Klein, PhD. has written a fascinating article about observations on a recent visit to Brazil, “A Word About Brazilian Women” My lands! (as my mother would say) – where did they learn to move like that? As Dr. Klein enjoys “the women move parts of their bodies that I didn’t realize could move in quite that way. They dance with their shoulders, their necks, their hips, followed by their feet. Their torso practically comes along for the ride. I’m certain I wasn’t the only observer reminded of sex.”
And, it’s not just the skinny 20 year olds who are dancing! Listen to this from Dr. Klein:
“Another compelling feature of Brazilian women is that when it comes to dancing, everyone is eligible. No woman is too large to participate, and when they do, they shake whatever they have. Often, that’s a considerable amount of shaking, and no one scolds them or turns away. Bodies are bodies, and in Brazil, bodies are good.
In fact, the large women in Brazil dress exactly the way their thinner sisters do: skimpy, tight, and colorful. There’s even a style of tank top that deliberately exposes the belly, inviting it to hang over their short shorts. In America most women would be horrified to expose what we delicately call “rolls of fat.” In Brazil that same flesh is called, um, flesh, and it’s not seen as a moral failing or aesthetic calamity. It’s part of a woman’s body, and they apparently don’t feel the desperate need to cover or disguise it. If it’s a woman’s body, there are plenty of men to celebrate it. As a result, there are Brazilian women of every size preening. And that’s attractive regardless of how a woman is constructed.
And did I mention that the Brazilian women are gorgeous?”
‘Tis the season for parties, dining out, dressing up, dancing, or simply toasting the end of the year with a good friend. Enter Body Image and the American Woman (and men,too). How many try-ons, how many angles, how many I-wish-I-weren’t-saggings, how many I-will-start-working-outs does it take before we get comfortable with our bodies? I went to a formal event last weekend. I watched as seasoned men and women loosened up with a little wine and took their black tie bodies out on the dance floor. Some held on tight. Some, with great flourish, let it all hang out. Yes, moving (well, almost) like a Brazilian!
What an inspiration, these Brazilian women! Let’s OWN IT, as they do – or at least let’s move in that direction. Let’s move to the music and pulsate to it. Bodies are good! Just the thing to celebrate the rhythm of life in this holiday season (and any time).
“Some people don’t dance, if they
don’t know who’s singing.
Why ask your head? it’s your
hips that are swinging.”~ Shirley Bassey, History Repeating 1997
What do you think? Let me know here.
(Parts of this blog were reprinted from Sexual Intelligence, copyright © Marty Klein, Ph.D. (www.SexualIntelligence.org).)
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