RACISM STILL RIFE IN BRAZIL'S ROLE MODELS

Brazil, home of sun, sea and catwalks! However as this challenging report shows beneath the glitz and glamour of Brazil's most famous export lies a darker world of racism and segregation.

Brazil has the second largest black population on Earth but an obsession with lighter-skinned models is putting darker Brazilians off modelling. Caroline and her friend Aline are aspiring models, eager for a life of glamour. But Aline is one of the only 10 people out of 200 at a modelling convention who would call themselves black. "There are more openings for white models", one model explains. "Brazil is hiding what it thinks is not beautiful enough." District Attorney Deborah Affonso says the problem is economics. Brands don't want people representing them who are "seen as having no spending power". However, a recent 8% increase in the catwalk quota agreement for black models is a step in the right direction to finding a "Brazilian beauty with a real Brazilian face."

Produced By SBS. Ref - 4937 / Journeyman Pictures

Related Podcasts

Interview with Ibrahim Mahama (Ghana), one of the artists selected to participate in the exhibition, All The World's Futures - Biennale Arte 2015. Exhibited at the Arsenale |...

2004 BBC Namibia - Genocide and The Second Reich documentary commemorating 100 years since the Herero and Nama genocide.

United Nations, New York, 19 October 2009 - In Tanzania, albinos - people who lack pigmentation in their skin, hair and eyes - have long suffered discrimination. Recently they have begun living in...

Sculptor El Anatsui speaks of his Rice Gallery installation, Gli (Wall). This piece uses bottle caps and other unconventional materials to challenge the human eye using translucent barriers. This...

Pages

Graphic Design by Ishmael Annobil /  Web Development by Ruzanna Hovasapyan