(Still, there’s been no rash of plus-size male swimwear lines, as men in Brazil wear Speedo-style suits that don’t impinge on big guts.)
Analysts attribute Brazil’s rapidly widening girth to changes in nutrition, with chips, processed meats and sugary soft drinks replacing staples such as rice, beans and vegetables.
And while the country’s elite are widely known to be fitness freaks — and also among the world’s top consumers of cosmetic surgery — those recently lifted out of poverty and manual labor are becoming increasingly sedentary. A 2008 study showed that about 10 percent of Brazilian teens and adults exercise regularly.
Still, despite their growing numbers, not everyone is eager to embrace gordinhas — or “little fatties,” as chunky women are affectionately known here.
Many high-end bikini-makers have turned a seemingly deliberately blind eye to the burgeoning plus-size market. Rio-based upmarket brand Salinas, for example, offers five sizes, from extra-small through extra-large. However, their sizing runs notoriously small and it’s hard to imagine anyone over a size six actually managing to fit into any of the brand’s minuscule two-pieces.
Luis Rebelatto chalked it partially up to snobbery.
“Some brands, they don’t want their image to be associated with chunky women,” he said. “Only the thin, the rich and the chic.”
While Brazilians’ increasing heft is a public policy preoccupation for the government, growth in the ranks of the overweight population has given them increased visibility in Brazilian society. Extra-wide bucket seats for the obese have been installed in Sao Paulo’s metro system and today the city is to host Brazil’s first ever Miss Plus Size beauty contest.
“It used to be that people would stare at me,” Soares said. “Now when I come to the beach I see women who are much bigger than me — and lots of them are wearing bikinis — so I’m not self-conscious any more.”
“God makes some people thin, but he made me like this,” she said, rubbing down the well-oiled bulge of her stomach and thighs. “So who am I to think that he was wrong?”
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