The image of a Brazilian woman is quite stereotypical for most foreigners — a tanned beauty who spends most of her time on the beach or dances at Carnival. It’s not for nothing that this opinion exists — every female resident of Brazil feels proud of her body and allows herself some good rest on a regular basis. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Bright Side outlined some curious details about the lives and behaviors of Brazilian women. And it’s thanks to these things that they look and feel super attractive.

1. Braces are a sign of wealth.

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11. Many families have babysitters.

© AP / East News, © Miami Herald / TNS / Sipa USA / East News

Some Brazilian women start choosing a babysitter as soon as they find out they are pregnant. Maternity leave is 120-180 days, women have to work, and babysitting services are inexpensive. That’s why there are many babysitters here. Moreover, for this money, not only will they look after the children, but they will also cook and clean the house.

12. At the same time, mothers can take their babies wherever they want.

© AP / East News

A young mother might easily take her small baby to a noisy party late in the evening or to watch a soccer match. Tourists might get culturally shocked if they visit a cinema in Brazil because they might find kids crawling in the aisles, while their mothers will be watching the movie.

This story is a bright example, “My husband’s relatives invited us to a kid’s birthday. I was surprised by the time of the celebration — it wasn’t starting until 8 PM. My daughter is already in bed by this time, but we decided to shift her sleep a bit and drop by to the party for an hour. So we went there, spent some time there, and started to say goodbye to everyone. The granddad of the birthday girl stopped us and started to stress about why we were leaving so early, and why we didn’t wait until the candle blowing ceremony. When we explained the reason for our early leaving, he started to laugh and said sarcastically, ‘Your home rules are like being in the army.’ Needless to say, the Brazilian kids were having fun all night and no one, apart from us, was bothered by the fact that kids were supposed to go to sleep earlier.”

© AP / East News

13. Time goes by differently for Brazilians.

It’s important to keep in mind that no one hurries anywhere in Brazil. You can relax and enjoy the moment here and take a rest from the quick rhythm of western countries. It’s impossible to make Brazilians do anything fast. They will be nodding and apologizing, but will keep doing whatever they were doing at their own pace. Time is an abstract term for them. Their mantra seems to be: “If we don’t do it today, we will do it eventually.”

There are numerous legends about the lateness of local people, “I live in Brazil. People are quite relaxed here, they don’t worry about the little things and they never hurry. That’s why they have issues with punctuality. Once, I had a conversation with a friend. She works in a bank and believes she is very organized. The bank opens at 9 AM. She is no more than 30 minutes late. After she arrives, she needs to change clothes, have breakfast, and drink a cup of coffee. But since all Brazilians know and understand this, clients won’t start coming in before 10 AM. She believes it’s inhumane that people in other countries might arrive at a certain place earlier than 9 AM if this organization doesn’t start to work until 9 AM.”

14. A girl’s 15th birthday is a big event.

© Geazi Vieira / YouTube

It’s not 18 or 21, but the 15th birthday that is a big deal here. Boys don’t have this significant date. This event is oftentimes celebrated more pompously than a wedding. The tradition comes from ancient times — back then a girl was ready to get married at the age of 15 and the purpose of these parties was to show the girl to potential grooms and their families. The current scale of the celebration depends on the financial condition of the family. Usually, many guests are invited, special decorations are ordered, and a big restaurant is rented. If the family lives in a private house, they hire cooks, waiters, and a host. The birthday girl has a gorgeous dress, huge cakes, and a lot of other stuff.

15. There are no boundaries or personal borders in conversations.

Colleagues might easily say to you that your new hairstyle doesn’t suit you and that your new dress makes you look fat. If you buy a new car, they might say that the color and the brand are actually so-so. It’s not just the people who are close to you that can say this, this is a normal manner of communicating between slightly familiar people who don’t have a close relationship. It could be taken for rudeness and impoliteness, but the thing is that Brazilians don’t get offended by the remarks of other people. It’s the norm for them.

One girl shared her experience, “They will raise the topic of health even with a relatively unfamiliar person. A person may easily tell you that he has just recently left the hospital where he was being treated for hemorrhoids, while Maria has problems with urination and it hurts when she uses the toilet. How many times a day do you pee? Woah, you’ve gained weight, are you pregnant by chance? I heard many of these things from either my former colleagues or the occasional people I talked to on the bus. I have even heard questions from clients with whom I shared a little small talk while accepting their order. I still can’t understand: Is it a cultural thing and a sign of openness or is it impoliteness and the breaking of personal borders? I am more prone to think it’s the first option.”

16. Women are very hot-tempered but they cool down fast as well.

© Nelson Antoine / Shutterstock.com

Having a relationship with a local girl is like experiencing a hurricane. She can feel jealous of her boyfriend quite frequently and cause a scene, which in most cases is followed by a romantic and fast reconciliation. People don’t feel shy about expressing their feelings in public and they don’t get embarrassed about it.

17. They live with their parents before marriage.

They don’t find it sensible to spend money on rent. It’s convenient for them to live with their parents, not only from a financial perspective but also from an everyday life perspective: the food is always ready, the house is always clean. However, bills, in this case, are split in half, while the money that could be spent on renting another apartment is not spent but put aside and saved. In most cases, when a person finds their other half, they have money saved for an apartment or a house, as well as their own car. It’s inappropriate to live with your parents after you get married in Brazil.

18. Plastic surgery is a part of their life.

Brazil is in second place in terms of the number of people who have resorted to plastic surgery (and first in plastic surgery per capita). It seems that this is contrary to the concept of “love yourself as you are,” but in fact, it’s not. It is believed that even if one loves their body, it doesn’t mean that one doesn’t want to improve it. Various lifting procedures are the most common things here. Just don’t ask a woman about who she goes to unless she’s open about it.

Which things from the Brazilian lifestyle looked cool to you and which ones do you find inappropriate?

Please note: This article was updated at June 2021 to correct source material and factual inaccuracies.