Post by Bozur on Apr 15, 2005 13:38:32 GMT -5
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CARACAS JOURNAL
A Bevy of Teeny Beauties, Minds Set on Being Queens
By JUAN FORERO
Published: April 15, 2005
David Rochkind/Polaris for The New York Times
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who will become Miss Venezuela? The race to become the fairest of all in Venezuela starts young.
David Rochkind/Polaris for The New York Times
Mariela Medina, 10, left, learns how to properly wash her face and relax during a make-up class at Hermán's Institute. Such courses can cost parents several hundreds of dollars.
David Rochkind/Polaris for The New York Times
Abigail Ruiz teaches a class on proper makeup application at Hermán's Institute in Caracas. Hermán Vallenilla, the academy's owner, says the range of courses can prepare a girl for any career.
David Rochkind/Polaris for The New York Times
Katherine Romer, 24, in a class on proper makeup application at Hermán's. Many of the girls taking such courses will later go to even greater lengths to attain their goals, including plastic surgery.
David Rochkind/Polaris for The New York Times
Maria Victoria Chacon, left, 7, Maria Alejandra Faria, middle, 10, and Andrea Diaz, 10, learn proper telephone etiquette from Leonardo Gutierrez.
David Rochkind/Polaris for The New York Times
In Juan Alejandro Solórzano's body class, girls are taught to move with grace, when dancing or walking.
David Rochkind/Polaris for The New York Times
In a class on elegance at Hermán's Institute, girls are taught to walk properly.
CARACAS, Venezuela, April 8 - Ana Cristina Graterol, all spindly arms and legs, may be only 7. But at Herman's beauty academy, that's not too early to learn the intricate art of runway walking or how to hold a salad fork or choose the right handbag.
After all, Ana said while learning to clean her skin in makeup class, her mother long ago decided she would someday be beautiful enough to model or, God willing, compete for the prize that captures the imagination of nearly all Venezuelan girls - the Miss Venezuela crown.
"My mom says I should be a model, and I want to be one, too," said Ana, who attends six hours of classes a week, with girls aged 5 to 10. "She says I also have a pretty body."
In a country where vanity is, well, everything, and Venezuelans readily admit wanting to look more beautiful, the race to become the fairest of them all starts young. And it begins at glamour factories like Hermán's, in business 34 years, or at the finishing programs offered by Venezuela's numerous beauty pageants.
Many of these girls will later go to even greater lengths, having breast implant surgery, getting a new nose or undergoing a tummy tuck.
"Here, what it is is a culture of beauty, and so the little girls see the pageants and the winners and they want to be in it," said Liliana Da Silva, 21, who last year had breast surgery in the hopes of competing in the Miss Venezuela pageant. "You ask a girl here what they want to do and they'll tell you - to be a Miss Venezuela."
But is the pressure too much?
Giselle Reyes, 38, who runs a beauty school and was once a beauty queen, thinks not.
At her academy, Giselle's, the walls are filled with pictures of her and the numerous young beauties she has taught. Clearly, Giselle's celebrates beauty and glamour, but there's also an emphasis on other matters of crucial importance, like the difference between a fish and a salad fork or how to make a sensation walking up a flight of stairs.
The message is clear: beauty may be skin deep but walking like a princess and speaking with style takes time and effort - time, Ms. Reyes said, best spent in her academy. The cost of her course is $700.
It is a price that many middle-class parents are eager to pay to see their little girls stand out. Even if it does not lead to a beauty crown or a modeling contract, it could bring social advancement. "What these academies do is give self-esteem, teaching how to talk like an adult, how to have personality," Ms. Reyes said. "The idea is to instill in them the desire to be different from other girls."
Such talk makes perfect sense in a country permeated by a culture of beauty. Girls dream of being tall and thin, with a dazzling smile and voluptuous curves. Girls also know that what nature did not provide, the plastic surgeon can.
Giselle Cesin, 18, a university student, said her mother had always put pressure on her to watch what she ate and, if necessary, to go under the knife. "When I was 14, she said, 'Get a nose job, have liposuction, get your breasts worked on,' " Ms. Cesin explained. She has had four nose jobs, the first at 14, and now plans breast surgery.
But it is not just beauty that has won Venezuela more Miss Universe and Miss World competitions than any other country. It also takes class, academy teachers say, and that means learning how to apply just the right amount of makeup, pose for a photo-op, choose the right clothes.
The training regimen, lasting four months, imbues girls with a deep appreciation of beauty, and parents with dreams of seeing their little girl as Miss Universe. Or, if not quite that, she might be queen of any number of international pageants Venezuelans have frequently won, from Miss Mesoamerica to Miss Blonde International to Miss Queen of Coffee.
"I'll be honest with you, I'd like it for my girl," said Germán Suárez, speaking of his daughter, Valeria, 6, who won her first competition last year. "She is a girl and so she's made for that."
At Hermán's, even if you are a tiny Daniela Villaroel, who at just 5 seems unsure what she has gotten herself into, it is important to get started soon.
Located in a rambling, elegant old house in one of Caracas's wealthiest districts, Hermán's is equipped with a sound room where girls can practice diction, a makeup room, a dance studio, a dining room where girls are taught proper etiquette, a weight room and a pool.
They learn the fine difference between types of soup spoons and how to greet callers on the phone. Posture is all-important. Fingernail biting is a definite no-no.
In Juan Alejandro Solórzano's body class, girls are taught to move with grace, when dancing or walking. With a boombox churning out salsa ("your body fascinates me," one line goes), Mr. Solórzano quieted his giggling young charges on a recent afternoon.
"Girls, shhhhhh," he chided. "Be careful, very careful, with your basic steps."
María Angelina Rodríguez, 9, may be all smiles and chitchat now, and Antonella DiMartino, also 9, may have yet to shed her baby fat, but Mr. Solórzano says both have a shot at the crown one day. That, Mr. Solórzano noted, is what most parents want.
"I have 12 girls and in 10 years, I tell you, about 10 of them will be in the beauty pageants," said Mr. Solórzano. "They will also be models or something related, working in publicity, promotions, something in the fashion world."
Hermán himself, a former broadcaster named Hermán Vallenilla, 65, says the range of courses at his academy can prepare a girl for any career. But the importance of beauty is never far from his mind.
"There are people who say that beauty is not important, that what's important is what's inside," Mr. Vallenilla said. "But who is going to get close enough to an ugly woman to ask what's inside?"
CARACAS JOURNAL
A Bevy of Teeny Beauties, Minds Set on Being Queens
By JUAN FORERO
Published: April 15, 2005
David Rochkind/Polaris for The New York Times
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who will become Miss Venezuela? The race to become the fairest of all in Venezuela starts young.
David Rochkind/Polaris for The New York Times
Mariela Medina, 10, left, learns how to properly wash her face and relax during a make-up class at Hermán's Institute. Such courses can cost parents several hundreds of dollars.
David Rochkind/Polaris for The New York Times
Abigail Ruiz teaches a class on proper makeup application at Hermán's Institute in Caracas. Hermán Vallenilla, the academy's owner, says the range of courses can prepare a girl for any career.
David Rochkind/Polaris for The New York Times
Katherine Romer, 24, in a class on proper makeup application at Hermán's. Many of the girls taking such courses will later go to even greater lengths to attain their goals, including plastic surgery.
David Rochkind/Polaris for The New York Times
Maria Victoria Chacon, left, 7, Maria Alejandra Faria, middle, 10, and Andrea Diaz, 10, learn proper telephone etiquette from Leonardo Gutierrez.
David Rochkind/Polaris for The New York Times
In Juan Alejandro Solórzano's body class, girls are taught to move with grace, when dancing or walking.
David Rochkind/Polaris for The New York Times
In a class on elegance at Hermán's Institute, girls are taught to walk properly.
CARACAS, Venezuela, April 8 - Ana Cristina Graterol, all spindly arms and legs, may be only 7. But at Herman's beauty academy, that's not too early to learn the intricate art of runway walking or how to hold a salad fork or choose the right handbag.
After all, Ana said while learning to clean her skin in makeup class, her mother long ago decided she would someday be beautiful enough to model or, God willing, compete for the prize that captures the imagination of nearly all Venezuelan girls - the Miss Venezuela crown.
"My mom says I should be a model, and I want to be one, too," said Ana, who attends six hours of classes a week, with girls aged 5 to 10. "She says I also have a pretty body."
In a country where vanity is, well, everything, and Venezuelans readily admit wanting to look more beautiful, the race to become the fairest of them all starts young. And it begins at glamour factories like Hermán's, in business 34 years, or at the finishing programs offered by Venezuela's numerous beauty pageants.
Many of these girls will later go to even greater lengths, having breast implant surgery, getting a new nose or undergoing a tummy tuck.
"Here, what it is is a culture of beauty, and so the little girls see the pageants and the winners and they want to be in it," said Liliana Da Silva, 21, who last year had breast surgery in the hopes of competing in the Miss Venezuela pageant. "You ask a girl here what they want to do and they'll tell you - to be a Miss Venezuela."
But is the pressure too much?
Giselle Reyes, 38, who runs a beauty school and was once a beauty queen, thinks not.
At her academy, Giselle's, the walls are filled with pictures of her and the numerous young beauties she has taught. Clearly, Giselle's celebrates beauty and glamour, but there's also an emphasis on other matters of crucial importance, like the difference between a fish and a salad fork or how to make a sensation walking up a flight of stairs.
The message is clear: beauty may be skin deep but walking like a princess and speaking with style takes time and effort - time, Ms. Reyes said, best spent in her academy. The cost of her course is $700.
It is a price that many middle-class parents are eager to pay to see their little girls stand out. Even if it does not lead to a beauty crown or a modeling contract, it could bring social advancement. "What these academies do is give self-esteem, teaching how to talk like an adult, how to have personality," Ms. Reyes said. "The idea is to instill in them the desire to be different from other girls."
Such talk makes perfect sense in a country permeated by a culture of beauty. Girls dream of being tall and thin, with a dazzling smile and voluptuous curves. Girls also know that what nature did not provide, the plastic surgeon can.
Giselle Cesin, 18, a university student, said her mother had always put pressure on her to watch what she ate and, if necessary, to go under the knife. "When I was 14, she said, 'Get a nose job, have liposuction, get your breasts worked on,' " Ms. Cesin explained. She has had four nose jobs, the first at 14, and now plans breast surgery.
But it is not just beauty that has won Venezuela more Miss Universe and Miss World competitions than any other country. It also takes class, academy teachers say, and that means learning how to apply just the right amount of makeup, pose for a photo-op, choose the right clothes.
The training regimen, lasting four months, imbues girls with a deep appreciation of beauty, and parents with dreams of seeing their little girl as Miss Universe. Or, if not quite that, she might be queen of any number of international pageants Venezuelans have frequently won, from Miss Mesoamerica to Miss Blonde International to Miss Queen of Coffee.
"I'll be honest with you, I'd like it for my girl," said Germán Suárez, speaking of his daughter, Valeria, 6, who won her first competition last year. "She is a girl and so she's made for that."
At Hermán's, even if you are a tiny Daniela Villaroel, who at just 5 seems unsure what she has gotten herself into, it is important to get started soon.
Located in a rambling, elegant old house in one of Caracas's wealthiest districts, Hermán's is equipped with a sound room where girls can practice diction, a makeup room, a dance studio, a dining room where girls are taught proper etiquette, a weight room and a pool.
They learn the fine difference between types of soup spoons and how to greet callers on the phone. Posture is all-important. Fingernail biting is a definite no-no.
In Juan Alejandro Solórzano's body class, girls are taught to move with grace, when dancing or walking. With a boombox churning out salsa ("your body fascinates me," one line goes), Mr. Solórzano quieted his giggling young charges on a recent afternoon.
"Girls, shhhhhh," he chided. "Be careful, very careful, with your basic steps."
María Angelina Rodríguez, 9, may be all smiles and chitchat now, and Antonella DiMartino, also 9, may have yet to shed her baby fat, but Mr. Solórzano says both have a shot at the crown one day. That, Mr. Solórzano noted, is what most parents want.
"I have 12 girls and in 10 years, I tell you, about 10 of them will be in the beauty pageants," said Mr. Solórzano. "They will also be models or something related, working in publicity, promotions, something in the fashion world."
Hermán himself, a former broadcaster named Hermán Vallenilla, 65, says the range of courses at his academy can prepare a girl for any career. But the importance of beauty is never far from his mind.
"There are people who say that beauty is not important, that what's important is what's inside," Mr. Vallenilla said. "But who is going to get close enough to an ugly woman to ask what's inside?"