In Brazil, there is a widespread cliché, well anchored on the French: they do not wash, they are real pigs! The proof: Louis XIV would have taken only one bath in his entire life. Another proof: they invented perfumes to hide their (bad) smells. Brazilians proudly say: “It’s our complete opposite! ”
own on them
It’s true: Brazilian men and women are clean about themselves, very clean, bordering on excess! They take several showers a day (world record!). They are champions of deodorant consumption. They brush their teeth after every meal. They take care of their bodies, in all social circles. Women intensively attend manicurists, hairdressers and beauticians.
Where do these great habits come from? Of Indian heritage, it is generally said. The Indians bathe a great deal, remove their hair, frequently wash their hair, which they comb carefully, and smear their bodies with oils extracted from plants in the forest. This explanation is possible. If it is not proven, it is well found! We could add the African heritage. We can also put forward the climate argument. In most of the country, the climate is hot and often humid. Nothing like a good shower to eliminate sweat and refresh the body!
This cleanliness obviously includes hygienic concerns: there is no question of taking food directly with the hand without a small paper napkin, even for a hamburger or a piece of pizza in the countless fast food restaurants in the country. The image of the Parisian with his baguette under his arm shocks a lot here!
clean at home
Cleanliness goes far beyond the body alone. The interiors of the houses are spotless, cleaned, polished, perfectly kept, even in the favelas. It is the pride of housewives. In bourgeois apartments, it is the daily work of domesticity. They too, the caretakers ensure the maniacal cleanliness of all the corners of the buildings, including the adjoining sidewalk, placed under their responsibility by the municipality! Cars are washed and cared for, inside and out, at least once a week. Every day, for those who have a driver! It is also part of the statute.
But not clean collectively
But this concern for cleanliness and hygiene has a big limit: it stops at the individual or private domain – the body, the house, the car. It does not apply to the public domain!
These same Brazilians, obsessed with cleanliness, are capable of turning their beaches into garbage cans, their rivers into sewers, their lakes and bays into cesspools, their streets into garbage dumps, their suburbs into dumps. It starts with the housewives of the favelas, with impeccable interiors, but who don’t hesitate to throw their rubbish out the window! It continues with beach goers leaving all their trash behind – cans, newspapers, bottles, leftover food, etc. –, ignoring nearby trash cans and relying on city services to clean everything up. It ends with luxury condominiums discharging their wastewater directly into neighboring lakes, which will pollute the local beaches where their residents, all clean, go swimming!
In all these cases, irresponsible individual behavior and dramatic shortcomings of the public authorities are the best allies for this ecological and health disaster, quite the opposite of the concern for cleanliness and hygiene, however proclaimed. The Brazilian is clean, Brazil is dirty.