Colombia gripped by "Without Breasts"

Tue19Sep2006

Colombia gripped by "Without Breasts"

13:27 H | Topics: Colombia - Entertainment - TV

In the category of Best Name for a TV Show in the History of the World, the winner is: "Without Breasts There is No Paradise".

All of Colombia is riveted to what's being called the most popular telenovela in the country's history: Sin tetas no hay paraíso, a story (based on a best-selling novel and airing on Colombia's Canal Caracol) which revolves around the life of a sex worker obsessed with augmenting her breast size, and her relationship with narcotraficantes. But not everyone is happy with the soap.

Its legions of loyalists notwithstanding, many are upset with the show for the image it portrays.

In newspaper columns and radio interviews, feminists and family groups have decried the show's portrayal of women as a sexist affront, more inclined to satisfy flesh-filled male fantasies than generate meaningful debate about Colombia's unrivaled obsession with plastic surgery.

AP points out that Colombia leads the world in plastic surgery madness:

Colombia's passion for implants is almost unmatched. According to the Colombian Society of Plastic Surgeons, more than half of the 450,000 operations performed last year were breast augmentations costing an average $2,000-$3,000 per procedure — more than half a year's salary for the 58 percent of the country living below the poverty line.

Meanwhile, the mayor of the town where the novela is set is up in arms about the portrayal of the women of the locale, and activists are charging the show's producers' of being concerned solely with the high ratings the cleavage featured will earn them.

Via / Yahoo! Entertainment