ABSTRACT
The text produces an archaeology of the phenomenon of plastic surgery based on the recommendations of beauty in the column Elegância e Beleza, from the magazine O Cruzeiro, in the 1940s. Considering the traces left in the periodical, we identify the existence of the discourse of racial improvement advocated by the Brazilian eugenics movement. We point out the ways in which the ideology of white racial domination was propagated in the enunciations of beauty, highlighting the subtle character of the proposals to conceal black and indigenous physiognomies in the early 20th century. We believe that Elegância e Beleza encouraged the adoption of aesthetic ideals compatible with the biopolitics of racism.
KEYWORDS:
Plastic Surgery; Beauty; Racism; Biopolitics; O Cruzeiro