All About Sex In Brazil

Brazil, since its beginning, has had a "machista" culture, mainly in the rural parts of the country. Since Portuguese colonization, women were expected to be obedient and handle household tasks. In the case of men, being expected to be with other women while married implied dominance over the woman. However, over time, women have begun to work and build economically in the home, changing the perspective that she only had to serve her husband and take care of the home. This change transformed how men and women began organizing their personal commitments, work lives, and how they understood and managed their sexuality; this and the social and political liberation movements of the 1960s.

Attitudes regarding sexuality and sexual morality are important to decide what is acceptable and what is not regarding their practices in a country. And Brazil is obviously setting a good example. In the 1990s, a large part of the Brazilian population, more women than men, understood sex as love toward their partner. And around this same time, the vast majority of the population considered that young women should be a virgin at marriage. However, around this same time, tolerance for masturbation and homosexuality grew. People find it increasingly important to talk about sexuality and condom use early in school, although this has been the case since the HIV outbreak. Nowadays, in Brazil, sexuality is seen in a very open and tolerant way. People in Brazil generally have more progressive views; the legalization of gay marriage in 2013 demonstrated this, resulting from a social movement that began in the 1990s.

This social movement fostered cultural changes that challenged the traditional visions of sexuality towards a more progressive and open one. This is visible if you decide to take a trip to Brazil, particularly to Rio de Janeiro. I've been living here for the past two months, and it's incredible how open and respectful they are about nudity. At first, it is surprising to see how people's complex about their physique is not there. Everyone wears tiny bikinis! And I'm talking about everyone, every age, size, etc.

Interestingly, I did not notice any profanity or unsolicited advances. I confess that, for a Latin country, I was amazed. Even during the carnival week, when women and men go dressed up throughout the city and even inside shopping centers, in many cases, practically naked; there was no prying eyes or disrespect for others. I even felt inappropriate and like I had to look away from the impressive butts because nobody else seemed to be noticing the nudity!

Also, I've talked about this before, but like in Colombia, prostitution is legal in Brazil. However, if it is a crime to exploit debauchery, as the brothels we know of do, wealthy and powerful people usually request services. Furthermore, people worldwide travel solely to have this type of experience, known as sex tourism. Brazil is one of the most popular countries for this, especially in cities like Rio de Janeiro and Recife. Out of curiosity about how easy it could be to request these services, I searched  "Recife's red-light area." To my surprise, the first thing that appears is a wiki sex guide and a sex map. Unfortunately, these services are provided by girls and adolescents, not only women of legal age. The mothers are often the ones who put their children in this situation because they lack income and money to eat. Fortunately, the government is trying to control underage prostitution. Like always dear reader, to everything amazing, there is an amazing cost. Please be mindful of how you use your financial power so that you're not part of the problem.

Despite the government's efforts to stop this type of illegal business, poverty in many Brazilian cities is massive, which is why these women and girls work as prostitutes to survive. This makes Brazil a tourist destination to have sex for meager prices, in my opinion, aberrational prices. Unfortunately, this situation damages the country's image and distorts the reality of women in Brazil. This causes women to be treated as sex workers or "easy" because of how they tend to dress. As Loretta Chao mentioned, "the country's sexy image also comes with stereotypes that range from inaccurate to offensive." She commented in her article "Complaints from local Rio de Janeiro residents" that the women say they have faced an onslaught of aggressive whistling and other inappropriate behavior on the streets in multiple languages during the World Cup in 2014.

From this, I conclude dear reader, that we cannot judge people, the way they dress, and their behavior based on our perception of a particular place. Not because a place as magical as Brazil has been known for prostitution, and not because women wear bikinis or tiny outfits, it means they can be treated disrespectfully. On the contrary, let us learn from the culture where you can be practically naked, dance seductively, and nobody has to look at you or say anything.