Rio has a way of bringing out the Puritan in me. I see a fourteen year-old girl in a thong and I’m thrown into what can only be described as a tizzy. I turned into a flustered grandmother when handed a government sponsored condom upon arrival at the Carnaval parade. My husband says not to be too hard on myself. He says I’m just a product of my culture.
I’d like to protest but he’s right. Americans are so uptight about sex. Brazilians seems to be more open about sex and the fact that people actually have it. This open attitude is certainly embraced by the ministry of health as demonstrated by their carnaval themed condoms and a report they issued last week.
A new study shows the rate of hypertension in Brazil has risen from 21.5% in 2006 to 24.4% of the population in 2009. Hypertension is a problem the US and Brazil share but Brazil seems to be taking a slightly different approach to combatting the problem.
As part of fighting hypertension, the health minister recommends, “besides eating five portions of fruits a day, you could try to have sex five times a day.”
Take a minute and try to imagine an American cabinet member or any government official saying those words to the press. If your head hasn’t exploded from trying to visualize something so inconceivable, move on to imagining the voices of the FOX news pundits. And finally, picture the headline a week later announcing the resignation of this official.
Here in Brazil, the newspaper article acknowledged the minister was joking and further quoted him seriously recommending, “dance, sex, a change in diet” and physical activity as ways to combat high blood pressure. Then the article went on to discuss the report in greater detail.
A government official recommends sex five times a day and the reporter focuses on hypertension statistics? What is wrong with these people?
As far as I know, the health minister still has his job and no reports have come in of children irrevocably damaged from hearing their government acknowledge that there are physical benefits from a healthy sex life.
But before anyone starts applying for residency visas, a word of caution. While Brazilians have fewer hang ups about sex, the country is far from being a bastion of liberal values. If any daughters result from these hypertension treatments, good luck convincing their fathers to let them play soccer. Soccer turns girls into lesbians.
Now, if you’ll excuse me. I’ve had french fries a few times this week and my husband is out of town. I’ll just have to go to the gym.
