Mark Zuckerberg with a group of unidentified
young women.
O Globo, Brazil
Mark Zuckerberg and the 'Muses' of Rio's Carnival
What's
the connection between the women of Rio's Carnival and Facebook
founder Mark Zuckerberg? For Brazil's O Globo,
M?icaGeraldiValentim writes that even if women have become more
financially independent in recent decades, the length to which they'll go to
look attractive is proof that catching a mate still requires good old-fashioned
thin waists, full lips and silky hair; and for a man, what still counts most is
a nicely-stuffed bank account.
The change in the female
esthetic at Brazil's
Carnival, evident in the amount of muscles per square inch that the new
muses are exhibiting and have been displaying on magazines covers, raises
questions about the freedom women today have to choose what standard to use in pursuit of the perfect body. While there may be those who see this as a form
of competition, I see it simply as evidence of evolution's power, which is far greater
than the cultural transformation and global progress that we may appear to be
experiencing.
Throughout our evolutionary history,
women who showed signs of youth and health had the advantage in the competition
for sexual partners. And beauty, somehow, has always indicated that a potential
partner has quality genes and is capable of producing offspring with a good
chance of survival. But these patterns were never fully crystallized. For
example, in times of food shortages, a bit of extra fat could represent
abundance. Nowadays, this may mean a lack of funds to invest in a balanced
diet, a nutritional specialist, a personal trainer, surgical intervention and
other shenanigans to get closer to what we conceive of as healthy. But even if
some parameters change, narrow waists, full lips and silky hair have never
ceased to impress. This has spurred the spread of all types of techniques of
liposuction, hyaluronic acid injections and hair-straightening
methods that have new names every day. Whether women are meaty or skinny, pale
or tan, beauty, in fact, has never been out of fashion.
And the newest trend is to be
super fit! What's really beyond my comprehension is,
where is freedom of choice when one follows a diet full of military-style restrictions,
undergoes daily enzyme injections, endures painful facial treatments and presses 1100 pounds with one's legs? ·and all with the sole
purpose of keeping our bodies constantly screaming their refusal to show the
slightest sign of natural aging? While I wonder how someone can
literally live such a saltless, sugarless life, I still seek the motivation
that maintains such sacrifice. ??
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
And this is where I see the intersection of Carnival's
muses and Mark Zuckerberg.
If female attractiveness is related
to success in finding a mate, one of the main requirements for choosing an alpha
male is the capacity to accumulate resources to ensure survival under the most
arid conditions. As much as women have become financially emancipated in recent
decades, rich and successful men continue to have plenty of options when
choosing a sexual partner. According to the movie The Social Network,
the creator of Facebook did his damnedest to prove his worth to the woman he wanted
by his side, and got into such a heated competition that he ended up making
billions of dollars. He may not have won the woman he sought, but his range of
options certainly expanded considerably after his bank account grew by so many
digits. Whether he's happy with the outcome is another story.
Deep down, what we all pursue
is the assurance that we'll have our basic needs met. We need water and food,
but equally, we need affection to survive. So we commit insanities, in greater
or lesser degrees, in this quest to be accepted, loved and admired. It's too
bad that we don't always realize that dictatorship comes disguised as an
option. If we were capable of being conscious of our real needs, perhaps we could
go straight to the point and seek what is truly essential for every human being:
As John Lennon reminded us: "All you need is love."
