What is it about Venezuela that's different than elsewhere?

I was struck by how different the Venezuelan women were many years ago on a cruise, (a honeymoon, to be exact in case you get the wrong notion) and this got my attention yesterday in reading the Globe and Mail story. At that time, it was about women with figures that shouldn't have been exposed at all, and yes, some that should be I thought, running around in the skimpiest of bikinis. This is different in some ways.



globeandmail.com: Venezuela's rouged revolution

Clearly, I would never pass in this country, where the look is long, dark, shiny hair (even at 40), small nose, café au lait skin, large breasts, flat tummy and shapely derrière.The good news is that plastic surgeons can help you achieve this uniform beauty standard -- for one-third to one-half what you would pay in North America. Breast implants cost just $3,000 (U.S.), a nose job sets you back $2,000, and a facelift as little as $6,000.

Cosmetic surgery is so acceptable here that girls request breast implants for their 15th birthdays.

"Girls will pressure their parents to bring them in at 13 or 15 and they'll ask for breast implants, liposuction or a nose job," says Dr. Pedro Meneses, a U.S.-trained plastic surgeon with the Hospital de Clinicas de Caracas. "Women here like their curves. But I won't operate on anyone who isn't 18."