Hugo Chavez's war on 'monstrous' breast implants
In a televised rant, Venezuela's controversial president says it's wrong for doctors to push cosmetic surgery on women who can't afford it
Last weekend, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez momentarily interrupted his ongoing critique of the U.S. to castigate another enemy: Venezuelan doctors who hawk breast implants. In a state television address, Chavez said Venezuelan women, egged on by doctors, spend way too much on plastic surgery, reports The New York Times. While the country's booming implant industry is already weathering controversy — a 20-year-old woman died in Caracas this month from complications — doctors say it's wrong for Chavez to call for "discrimination" against their profession. Here, a brief guide to the ruckus:
Why is Chavez so upset?
He says Venezuela's addiction to breast augmentation is a "monstrous thing." It is "painful," Chavez says, to see impoverished women pressured into paying for cosmetic surgery when they can't even afford basics. He lays much of the blame on doctors, who, he says, make these women feel bad "if they don't have some big bosoms." Chavez even suggests that implants can predispose young women for early pregnancy and drug abuse.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Are breast implants that popular in Venezuela?
"In beauty-conscious Venezuela, boobs are big business," says Corky Siemaszko in the New York Daily News. Between 30,000 and 40,000 Venezuelan women have their breasts lifted or otherwise enhanced every year. Billboards advertise bank loans for the surgery, and gossip blogs trade opinions on which Miss Venezuela contestants have gone under the knife. "I've never seen more silicone anywhere else," says feminist Spanish filmmaker Mireia Sallarès, as quoted in the Times.
How has Chavez's rant gone over?
It's receiving mixed reviews. An opposition newspaper, El Nacional, attacked Chavez for what it called his "antiquated, militaristic, coarse, repressive attitude on the freedom of women to do what they want with their bodies." Others said that Chavez's point — bizarre as it may be for him to make it — is actually pretty reasonable. El Nacional was being "a bit over dramatic," says Kyle Munzenrieder in Miami New Times. In fact, this might be "a rare instance where Chávez is right. There's nothing wrong with preferring a woman's natural state, no matter the size."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Sources: NY Times, NY Daily News, Miami New Times, Hispanically Speaking News
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Netherlands split on WFH for sex workers
Speed Read Councils concerned over 'nuisance' of at-home sex work, but others say changes will curb underground sex trade
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
'He adored Trump, and then rejected him'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
The Thursday Murder Club: who's in the film and what we can expect
Speed Read Author Richard Osman reveals starry cast set to play his 'septuagenarian sleuths'
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published