BBB 24: Understand the brothers’ rejection of the fit white men who tried to enter the game

Boxes and popcorn left five candidates out in the new BBB 24 dynamic, the “puxadinho”, in the program’s premiere last Monday (8). The choice caught the public’s attention, as they were all white, strong people, and four of them had light eyes.

Manifestations of one, or more, of these phenotypes are popularly known as “beauty standards”, in reference to the aesthetics valued in countries that were colonized by Europeans in the past.

Model Carolina Ferreira, 27, makeup artist Juliana Xavier, 27, nutritionist Caio Andrade, 29, dentist Jorge Mateus, 31, and jewelry designer Plínio Simões, 30, are the candidates who were left out. O F5 interviewed the doctor in media and everyday life, Max Milliano Melo, to understand the reasons that led the brothers and sisters to say no to the standards.

For Melo, the main reason for choosing it was the impression that the participants have of the audience. “This rejection was an attempt by the 18 who were already in the house to build a positive image of themselves in the public eye,” she said.

“It would be ugly for them to eliminate people who were out of the norm and put in the house a character similar to the one we used to see in films, series and soap operas”, he pointed out.

The researcher recalls that topics about the body on BBB gained space throughout the editions. “Whether they want to or not, the participants mirror the racial and gender debates of previous editions and enter the program with that in mind.”

Inside the house there are other people considered standards. Yasmin Brunet, Vanessa Lopes and Nizam are examples of this presence. According to Melo, even these participants may avoid living with other patterns because of narcissism. However, he reinforces that, even if this were the case, it would be a secondary reason.

Another factor that explains the situation is that non-standard people protect themselves so as not to suffer prejudice in relation to their own appearance.

The subjectivity of thinking about the body is essential to analyze the case, according to the expert. “BBB has advanced on racial and gender issues, but is still in its infancy in relation to fatphobia,” he stated.

Melo put himself in the shoes of one of these participants and gave an example of what this line of reasoning would be like, “one more blonde person here and I’ll have to do three times as much as she does to be accepted”, he explained.

Former BBB Bárbara Heck (white, blonde and green eyes) did not like the brothers’ choices and used a social network to criticize the episode. “He said he’s a favela resident: he’s already won,” she wrote. She deleted the post shortly after being criticized. On the same day, Bárbara also opined: “The hatred that people have for standards, people, creeds.”

For Max Melo, comments like these are similar to those critical of affirmative action. “Standards have not lost their role, but they are uncomfortable with having to share it, or at least listen to the demands of people who come from different places,” he said.