Abstract: With the overall objective of questioning whether there is evidence pointing to physical beautification as a positive factor for immaterial labor, the present paper sought specifically to gather evidence from: a) the Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery (ABCP); b) the Brazilian Association of personal hygiene, perfume and cosmetics industry (ABIHPEC); c) the Brazilian institute of geography and statistics (IBGE); d) the Commercial Board of the State of Rio Grande do Sul (JUCERGS); e) headlines of nationwide circulation magazines. Evidence was found pointing to a relationship between production and consumption of beauty products with a view to self-profitability within the scope of immaterial labor. From the results of the study, it can be said that the previously mentioned evidence strengthens physical attractiveness as a positive factor for immaterial labor.
Keywords:Immaterial laborImmaterial labor,Physical Attractiveness Physical Attractiveness ,Administrative ManagementAdministrative Management.
Resumo: Com o objetivo geral de instigar a respeito da existência de indícios favoráveis à proposição do embelezamento físico tomado em prol do trabalho imaterial, o presente artigo, em caráter preliminar, de modo específico buscou levantar indícios tomados: a) da sociedade brasileira de cirurgia plástica (SBCP); b) da associação brasileira de indústria de higiene pessoal perfumaria e cosméticos (ABIHPEC); c) do instituto brasileiro de geografia e estatística (IBGE); d) da junta comercial do estado do rio grande do sul (JUCERGS); e) de manchetes em revistas populares de grande circulação. Apontou-se indícios sugestivos da relação existente entre a produção e o consumo de produtos relativos ao embelezamento físico com vistas a rentabilização de si no trabalho imaterial. Do apanhado resultante do estudo empreendido, adianta-se que os indícios relacionados fortalecem entre si e contribuem para a proposição do embelezamento físico em prol do trabalho imaterial.
Palavras-chave: Trabalho Imaterial, Beleza Física , Gestão Gerencialista.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INDICATIONS OF PHYSICAL beautification FOR IMMATERIAL LABOR
INDÍCIOS DO EMBELEZAMENTO FÍSICO PARA O TRABALHO IMATERIAL
Universidade Federal de Santa Maria
This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International.
Many studies focus on the beautification issue or physical attractiveness per se. Specifically, Hamermesh and Biddle (1994); Leist (2003); Hamermesh and Parker (2005); Morris (2007); Harper (2008); and Fletcher (2009) have held discussions regarding physical attractiveness and work, especially on favoritism, productivity and compensation. Mansano (2009) says that control and encouragement tools or mechanisms that build certain lifestyles affect bodies and help define "beauty patterns" to be pursued no matter what; that people are encouraged to buy products, services and to take pleasure in pursuing their own beauty; and that adopting such lifestyle would bring beneficial consequences for their works and lives.
This paper follows studies that associate physical attractiveness, immaterial labor and administrative management (GRISCI, BECKER, SCALCO and KRUTER, 2008; GRISCI, DEUS, RECH, RODRIGUES and GOIS, 2014). 2009), Gorz (2005) and Gaulejac (2007). The set of studies points to beauty procedures; the consequences of the presence/absence of physical attractiveness in the daily work; naturalization and accountability for the achievement and maintenance of physical attractiveness; the existence of implicit and explicit factors related to practices such as promotion and favoring within the work environment; physical attractiveness understood as a career investment, which defines visibility/invisibility of bodies in organizational spaces, and as a source of psychological suffering.
These authors argue that administrative management leads individuals to build a lifestyle that requires them to shape their bodies according to an ideal of physical beauty, which is a source of income in immaterial labor. And it raises the question: if the work - physical attraction relationship corresponds to the appropriation of a desire that affects the body and establishes a market of production and consumption of ideas, articles and beautification practices, which are the indications that point to the existence of this relationship?
With the overall objective of questioning the existence of evidence pointing to physical beautification as a positive factor for immaterial labor, the present paper sought specifically to gather evidence from: a) the Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery ( SBCP); b) the Brazilian association of personal hygiene, perfume and cosmetics industry (ABIHPEC); c) the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE); d) the Commercial Board of the state of Rio Grande do Sul (JUCERGS); e) headlines of nationwide circulation magazines.
From the results of the study, it can be said that the aforesaid evidence strengthens physical attractiveness as a positive factor for labor. This paper is built as follows: this introduction is followed by the theoretical background, the research method and, finally, the presentation of results and final considerations.
For Gorz (2005), immaterial work is not only based on formal knowledge acquired by workers. It adds skills that cannot be taught, such as cooperation and expression, in addition to knowledge acquired on the daily culture, in a true deployment of the self to labor. Workers are therefore expected to be in the production process “with all cultural baggage acquired in games, team sports, disputes, musical and theatrical activities, among others.” (GORZ, 2005, p.19).
According to Lazzarato and Negri (2001, p. 45), immaterial work is “[...] at the intersection (interface) of this new production/consumption relationship", in which workers who hold positions that demand direct contact with clients are more valued than those working in back office positions. The understanding of immaterial labor as adopted by this paper concerns bodily, intellectual, creative, affective and communicative activities carried out by workers in order to carry out their jobs. They foster a relationship that seeks to arouse feelings of trust, security and comfort among consumers, thus becoming essential to the production and competitiveness of companies (LAZZARATO e NEGRI, 2001; GORZ, 2005; GRISCI, 2008).
There is, therefore, a movement in which workers produce themselves, meaning that "the self-production activity is a necessary aspect of all intangible work and workers are likely to make use of the same skills and functions while outside work” (GORZ, 2005, p.22). Work extends and reaches out life, as the construction of the working subject occurs concomitantly with life; there are no limits between life and work. That is where discussions on physical attractiveness might fit into, since an activity usually within the scope of private life, i.e., how the subject takes care of his body and looks, becomes an important part of the discussions in the context of immaterial work, as a source of income (GRISCI, DEUS, RECH, RODRIGUES e GOIS, 2014).
In this arena of reflective argumentation, we seek to point out characteristics of administrative management that are reflected in work and physical attractiveness. For Gaulejac (2007, p. 33), management "refers to a certain type of relationship with the world, with others and with the self, which contours should be conveniently outlined.” Under the guise of objectivity, operability and pragmatism, it is considered as "an ideology that translates human activities into performance indicators (...) a representation of humans as an asset serving the company” (GAULEJAC, 2007, p. 36-37).
Administrative management, based on the logic of efficiency and effectiveness, reproduces and naturalizes rules of society and implies that the subject must manage himself in order to reach "goals, results, success criteria, which are likely to exclude everything that is not useful or profitable” (GAULEJAC, 2007, p.154). Consequently, the subject is always ready to do business out of everything: sexuality, knowledge, health, beauty, identity, according to the author.
In an attempt to achieve the current beauty standard, many tools have been considered, ranging from diets, appropriate clothing and makeup to "liposuction, vomiting, hair discoloration" and even "skin whitening” (BRANDINI, 2007, p. 23-24). The very notion of health is no longer disconnected from beauty; to be attractive; people need to be thin and healthy, even if this involves a contradiction arising from drug abuse and surgical interventions, which are not always in line with a sense of health (FONTES, 2007). In light of this, Novaes (2011, p. 485) understands this as a consequence of the current rush for body sculpting techniques, whether in gyms or clinics.
Mansano (2009, p. 83) warns that "the desire to be included in a world made for the few is supported by the belief that, once that beauty pattern is achieved, it would also be possible to experience the benefits and pleasures that come along with it”. The subject seeks incessantly to fit in and, to achieve such benefit, he uses what Lipovestsky (1983) calls a narcissistic investment. It is focused on some control rituals, with a view to personal well-being and also professional acknowledgment, in a very close relation between physical attractiveness and success.
If once individuals were nothing but concerned about the way they looked, today they see themselves accountable and responsible for ensuring an attractive appearance (NOVAES, 2011). From a past "social duty," beauty has become a "moral obligation," according to which "failure is not due to a wider impossibility but rather to an individual incapacity"(NOVAES, 2011, p. 493). In such context, the subject must (GAULEJAC, 2007) promote and manage an attractive body that meets the demands of immaterial labor and administrative management (GRISCI; DEUS; RECH; RODRIGUES; GOIS, 2014). Based on these considerations, this paper was designed as follows.
Since this paper adopts a little explored approach, it was found appropriate to carry out an exploratory research that, in general term, aimed at "providing an approximate overview of a certain fact” (GIL, 2008, p. 27).
Another aspect worth highlighting is the preliminary nature of this study, which, regarding data collection, had a varied documentary source, based on what was registered and made available by Societies, Associations, Institutes related to the proposed subject matter, together with news and articles found in nationwide circulation magazines.
Thus, publications made by the Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery (SBCP), the Brazilian Association of the Personal Hygiene, Perfume and Cosmetics Industry (ABIHPEC), the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the Commercial Board of the State of Rio Grande do Sul (JUCERGS) and headlines in popular and easily accessible printed or online magazines were taken as sources of documents for this study.
The analysis was therefore based on information from, among others, yearbooks, reports, websites and disclosures on the subject matter, thus seeking indications related to physical attractiveness as a source of profitability at work, considering the thesis of a possible relation between immaterial labor, administrative management and physical attractiveness. The wealth of information and the time range obtained varied strongly, given the peculiarities of each entity's records. The Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery has showed to be more restrictive regarding the disclosure of information; and the time ranges accessed and analyzed, although approximate, were not exactly the same made available by all informants, which did not affected negatively the visibility of indications.
The analysis employed techniques that proved to be appropriate to the specificities of the records found in the documentary sources. Thus, among others, we used a Microsoft Office Excel 2010 spreadsheet and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 22. We also relied on the help of a statistician to build tables and a professor from the Faculty of Engineering of the Federal University of Pelotas to review such tables and compile the data. Tables were compiled from reports and we included descriptive statistics for data taken from tables contained in documentary sources. The details of the analysis are presented together with each of the informants and their respective documentary sources, in order to facilitate the reading and understanding.
Publications by the Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery (2015) indicate that the beauty industry in Brazil has grown significantly over the last few years According to such entity (2015), plastic surgeries grew by 129.9% in Brazil between 2009 and 2012, placing the country in second in the world ranking of plastic surgeries. The Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery (2015) reports that the most popular surgeries are liposuction, breast augmentation, abdominoplasty, blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery) and breast reduction.
In 2008, ABCP estimated that approximately 629 thousand plastic surgeries were performed per year. Out of these, 73% had only an aesthetic purpose; 80% of them are surgical procedures, which means they require hospitalization and after-care treatment. Besides, ABCP states that out of the total of non-surgical procedures (14%), 92% of them are facial filler treatments with botulinum toxin. Regarding the profile of patients, the organization says that seven out of ten plastic surgeries are performed on white patients (70%), 20% in brown patients, 7% in black and 3% in yellow patients - indigenous people did not reach 1% of the total amount of plastic surgeries. Most of the interventions are carried out on Brazilian nationals (95%), only 3% are foreigners who live abroad and 2% are foreigners who live in Brazil. Aesthetic and reconstructive surgical procedures are more prominent among women; however, female participation in aesthetic interventions (88%) is stronger than in reconstructive procedures (59%). Most aesthetic surgeries are performed on people ranging in age from 19 to 50 years (72%), more specifically, 38% from 19 to 35 years and 34% from 36 to 50 years.
The 2011 ABIHPEC yearbook indicates that the beauty industry earned R$ 29.4 billion, which represents 1.7% of Brazilian GDP. This market is responsible for 4.66 million jobs and has grown 312.9% since 1994, which is very significant. The document also highlights that the performance of the Brazilian personal hygiene, perfumery and cosmetics market has maintained an upward trend in the last 16 years, with an average growth of 10% in net sales.
A survey by ABIHPEC (2012) and the consultancy firm Booz & Company, released in July 2011, shows that consumption of beauty products is expected to grow at around 5% per year until 2015. The balance, which in 2010 was R$ 27.3 billion, is expected to reach R$ 50 billion in 2015.
Confirming and expanding such estimates, the ABIHPEC 2014 survey published in December 2014 states that the Brazilian personal hygiene, perfumery and cosmetics industry has grown on average 10% per year in the last 18 years, considering an ex-factory revenue, net of sales taxes, rising from R$ 4.9 billion in 1996 to R$ 38 billion in 2013. Over the last couple of years, such industry has experienced a much stronger growth than the rest of the industry (9.8% of average annual growth in the beauty industry, in comparison to 3.0% of the overall GDP growth and 2.2% of industry in general).
In Brazil, there are 2,518 companies operating in this market. Twenty of them are large companies, with net sales less taxes of above R$ 100 million, representing 73.0% of total revenues. According to the 2014 report, Southern Brazil concentrates 185 companies in this industry. Brazil ranks third in the global market of personal hygiene, perfumery and cosmetics. It is the first market for perfumery and deodorants; second for products for hair, men, children, bath, depilation and sun protection; third in color cosmetics; fourth in oral hygiene; and fifth in skin products. (ABIHPEC, 2014). This data reflects the growing transformation of the plastic surgery and Brazilian perfumery sector, which grows as these products are increasingly used by Brazilians.
The following indications were obtained from a Microsoft Office Excel 2010 spreadsheet and the statistical software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 22. We selected the Institute that contains information considered most relevant in Brazil - IBGE - through data from the Monthly Trade Survey (PMC), carried out and disclosed by such Institute. Therefore, the sample is composed of monthly PMC data from IBGE, from 2010 to 2014, as this is the time range in which data are formatted and ready to be used and analyzed.
In the sample, taken from IBGE PMC reports, we analyzed the time range mentioned above, with monthly observations and annual average of four tables of the PMC report for the following sectors: pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic, perfumery and cosmetic products, totaling 60 observations per table. PMC develops indicators that allow monitoring the circumstantial behavior of the national retail trade, investigating the gross revenue of resale in official companies that employ 20 people or more and which main activity is retail trade. PMC was started in January 1995, only in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro, developing real and nominal sales, employment and wage indicators. In 2000, the research covered the entire national territory. And only in 2010 the indicators were standardized. That is why data covers the 2010-2014 period. In addition, all data can be downloaded directly from the IBGE website.
To analyze IBGE data, we have compiled tables extracted from the PMC report, with percentage data regarding the monthly variation of sales in the retail trade per state, monthly variation of nominal sales revenue in the retail trade per state. In these tables, the states analyzed in the survey were Ceará, Pernambuco, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Goiás and the Federal District. In addition to data regarding Brazil as a whole. Also, we have carried out a descriptive analysis of the data, using line graphs and statistics. The results found will be shown below.
The following table contains descriptive statistics for data extracted from the table Sales Volume Variation in Retail Trade, by Activity and State, in percentage terms (from January 2010 to December 2014). The data are from the IBGE PMC report regarding the monthly production of "pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic, perfumery and cosmetic products". The number of observations (N), minimum and maximum values, mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variation (CV,%) were calculated.
Descriptive Statistics (from January 2010 to December 2014)
Source: prepared by the authors.
In this table, which provides information on the variation of the sales volume of the retail trade of "pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic, perfumery and cosmetic products", for example, for the Brazil variable, it might be noticed that there were 60 observations (January 2010 to December 2014. From these observations, the minimum value observed for the growth of such sector is 3.6%, with a maximum of 15.5%; the average found is 10.2% and the standard deviation is 2.753 (it means that the variation of the data around the mean is very small, therefore, results may be deemed reliable). The coefficient of variation is approximately 26.9% (percentage where the standard deviation is smaller than the average). For the other variables (states), the interpretation of descriptive statistics is similar. The line chart below shows the annual average from 2010 to 2014 for Brazil and the analyzed states.
Image 1
Variation of sales volume in retail trade: pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic, perfumery and cosmetic products by state (annual average, from 2010 to 2014).
Source: prepared by the authors.
In the chart above, on the sales volume variation in retail trade for "pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic, perfumery and cosmetic products", we can see that the average variation has been increasing year by year from 2010 to 2014 both in Brazil and in the analyzed states. It means that these sectors have been growing year after year. Another point to be observed is that in 2010 the highest mean variation (19.70%) was in the state of Goiás, 19.70%; while the lowest (7.88%) occurred in Minas Gerais. In 2011, the highest mean variation was observed in the state of Ceará, which recorded 18.77%; while the lowest was found in São Paulo, with 7.22%. In 2012, the highest mean variation was observed in Pernambuco, recording 27.33%; and the lowest was found in São Paulo, with 3.73%. In 2013, the highest mean variation was in Ceará, with 18.65%; and the lowest was in Espírito Santo, with 3.69%. In 2014, the highest mean variation was observed in the state of Pernambuco, which recorded 17.93%; while the lowest was found in Ceará, with 4.38%. For the annual average (grand total), the highest mean variation was in the state of Goiás, recording 19.70%; while the lowest (7.12%) occurred in Minas Gerais. However, it should be highlighted that there has always been a positive variation, meaning an increase in the sales volume of such sectors, which indicates a sound growth in Brazil, with an annual global average of 18% growth.
The following table contains descriptive statistics extracted from the table Net Sales Variation in Retail Trade, by Activity and State, in percentage terms (from January 2010 to December 2014). The data are from the IBGE PMC report regarding the monthly production of "pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic, perfumery and cosmetic products". The number of observations (N), minimum and maximum values, mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variation (CV,%) were calculated.
Descriptive Statistics (from January 2010 to December 2014)
Source: prepared by the authors.
In table 2, which provides information on the variation of net sales of the retail trade of "pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic, perfumery and cosmetic products", for the Brazil variable, it might be noticed that there were 60 observations (January 2010 to December 2014. The minimum value observed for the variation of the sales revenue of the sector is 5.9%; while the maximum is 21.3%; the average is 14.5%; the standard deviation recorded 3,017 (variation of data around the small mean - means a high reliability of the sample); the coefficient of variation was approximately 20.7% (percentage where the standard deviation is lower than the average). The data also point to a growth of nominal sales revenue in retail trade in the period under analysis, reinforcing the idea that it is a fast growing sector in Brazil. For the other variables (states), the interpretation of descriptive statistics is similar.
The line chart below shows the annual average from 2010 to 2014 for Brazil and the analyzed states.
Image 2
Variation of net sales volume in retail trade of “pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic, perfumery and cosmetic products” (from 2010 to 2014).
Source: prepared by the authors.
In Image 2, for the sales volume variation in retail trade of "pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic, perfumery and cosmetic products", we can see that the average variation, in percentage values, has been increasing year by year from 2010 to 2014 both in Brazil and in the analyzed states. In 2010, the highest mean variation was observed in the state of Goiás, which recorded 23.95%; while the lowest was found in Rio de Janeiro, with 12.11%. In 2011, the highest mean variation was observed in Espírito Santo, which recorded 24.91%; while the lowest was found in Rio de Janeiro, with 10.46%. In 2012, the highest mean variation was in Pernambuco, with 30.39%; and the lowest was in Espírito Santo, with 6.46%. In 2013, the highest mean variation was observed in the state of Ceará, which recorded 25.01%; while the lowest was found in Minas Gerais, with 8.58%. In 2014, the highest mean variation was observed in the state of Goiás, which recorded 22.95%; while the lowest was found in Rio de Janeiro, with 9.06%. For the annual average (grand total), the highest mean variation was observed in the state of Pernambuco, which recorded 21.04%; while the lowest was found in Rio de Janeiro, with 11.39%.
The following indications were extracted from a Microsoft Office Excel 2010 spreadsheet. This work was carried out with the help of a statistician, who reviewed data and results. We selected the Institute that gathers data deemed most relevant in the state of Rio Grande do Sul – JUCERGS -, through a data report requested to them. Thus, the sample is composed of new companies operating in the beauty industry, registered each year at JUCERGS, from 1994 to 2014. In this case, the time frame refers to the period for which the Institution has cataloged data.
In order to carry out the survey on JUCERGS, a letter was sent to the President of the Board. For such purpose, it was necessary to clarify items of the National Business Register (CNAES), regarding the sequence of ordered numbers that place a certain company that provides a specific service within a national registry. To select the CNAE codes appropriate to this research, a search was performed on the Cnae-website, using the keyword "beauty". Based on this research, we selected the CNAE codes registered in Table 5.
CNAE code of related activities used for research purposes
Source: prepared by the author.
Regarding the survey carried out at Jucergs, the following table shows the total number of beauty companies established per year, from 1994 to 2014. Next, a bar chart shows the growth of the sector. The companies' description is grouped by year according to the CNAE codes highlighted in Table 5 above. Table 6 below shows the total number (sum of all activities recorded according to CNAE codes) year by year, from 1994 to 2014.
Number of companies in the beauty sector recorded at JUCERGS (from 1994 to 2014)
Source: prepared by the author.
Table 6 shows a total of 36,650 new beauty companies were established in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, according to the categories previously mentioned, from 1994 to 2014. It can also be seen that the year that recorded the lowest number of incorporated companies was 1994, with a total of 523. And 2011 recorded the largest amount of incorporated companies, totaling 3295 Finally, one notices a growing evolution in relation to the increase in the number of companies, which can best be seen in Image 5 below.
Image 3
Evolution of the total number of beauty companies incorporated in Rio Grande do Sul.
Source: prepared by the author.
The chart shows that the beauty industry has been growing in the last 20 years. And although there is a small decrease in the number of new companies incorporated from 2012 to 2014, the grand totals are quite significant. The growth peak took place from 2009 to 2013. 2011 was the year in which the largest increase in the total number of new companies was incorporated before JUCERGS. It becomes clear that in the state of Rio Grande do Sul the beauty industry has been growing hugely, considering the large number of companies incorporated in such sector. To complement the analysis, data were separated per CNAE, in an attempt to show how the development occurred in each sector under study.
With respect to the first sector studied 9602-5 - hairdressers, 4,780 companies were opened between 1994 and 2014. Another remark is that the year of 2010 recorded the largest number of companies opened in the hairdressing segment in the analyzed period, a total of 641. The year with the lowest number of newly incorporated companies was 1995, with only 47 new companies.
Regarding the second segment under study 4646-0 - Wholesale of personal hygiene products, a total of 1,700 companies were opened between 1994 and 2014. It is noticeable that the wholesale sector of personal hygiene products recorded the largest number of new companies in 2011, with a total of 119 incorporations that year. And the year with the lowest number of newly incorporated companies was 1994, with only 34 new companies.
Regarding the third segment under study 4646-0 - Wholesale of cosmetic and perfumery products, a total of 3,397 companies were opened between 1994 and 2014. Another point worth highlighting is that the wholesale sector of cosmetic and perfumery products recorded the largest number of new companies in 2011, with a total of 256 incorporations that year. And the year with the lowest number of newly incorporated companies was 1994 and 1995, with only 78 new companies.
Regarding the fourth segment under study 9602-5 – Aesthetic and beauty services, a total of 5,185 companies were incorporated from 1994 to 2014. In the above-mentioned aesthetic and beauty services sector, it is noticed that the largest number of new companies were opened in 2011, totaling 626 incorporations that year. And the year with the lowest number of newly incorporated companies was 1994, with only 46 new companies.
As for the fifth segment under study 2063-1 - Manufacturing of cosmetics, perfumes and personal hygiene products, a total of 786 companies were opened from 1994 to 2014. Regarding the sixth and the last segment under study CNAE 4772-5 - Wholesale of cosmetics, perfumes and personal hygiene products, we found a total of 20,802 companies opened from 1994 to 2014. Another finding regarding the retail of cosmetics, perfumery and personal hygiene products is related to the fact that this sector stands out because it is the sector where the largest number of companies were incorporated, totaling 20,802 new companies. The largest number of incorporations occurred in 2011, with a total of 1701 new companies registered that year. And the year with the lowest number of newly incorporated companies was 1994, with only 296 new companies.
Therefore, the data collected, both from the IBGE website, on the trade of beauty products in Brazil, and those extracted from JUCERGS, on the number of companies entering the sector, both quite expressive, demonstrate a significantly increased use of such services, both within the general context - Brazil - and more specifically in Rio Grande do Sul.
It should be stressed that such data do not include home-made manicure, makeup, massage, and related services provided by non-registered professionals. In addition, there are also salespeople working for brands such as Natura, Jequiti, Avon etc., all of them unregistered initiatives, but are sure to be expanding if we observe, for example, using the current offering mechanisms of such services, such as Facebook, the large number of professionals who offer such products.
Along with the disclosures made by the BSPS and ABIHPEC and the surveys carried out at IBGE and JUCERGS, we found headlines of popular magazines illustrating the subject: "Beating the mirror: achieving beauty, which causes so much anxiety, has never been easier than today, with the help of medicine and gymnastics" (Veja, August 1995, 70-79); "Erotic capital: do you know what it is? Do you if you got it?” (Hakim; Weinberg,abril/2010, UOL online); “Check when erotic capital affects your career negatively” (UOL, April 2010, UOL online); “Beauty and Power: To what extent do the looks of a female CEO influence the success of your company?” (Brito, October 2010, Isto É online); “¿Tu belleza puede dejarte sin empleo? Una mujer considerada bonita no siempre es elegida para realizar un trabajo masculino: estudio entre las mismas mujeres se suele excluir a la candidata que representa competencia por su físico” (Hernandes, March 2011, CNN Expansión); “Beauty at work: new studies show that looks are one of the main secrets for success — and there is nothing wrong about using it” (Martins; Perosa, September 2011, p. 92-99); “Social attractiveness at work is more important than physical beauty, according to scientist” (Valente, September 2012, UOL online); “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful: Attractive women should not include a photo with a job application” (The Economist, March 2012, The Economist online); “Physical attractiveness might be an edge in your career” (Tozzi, August /2012, pp. 1-2); “Job applicants in Porto Alegre get their looks improved” (<www.g1.globo.com>, recovered on May 07, 2013); “High-end sweat & health: luxury gyms grown and charge up to 300 dollars a month for perks and five-star hotel services for high-demanding customers” (Bertão, June 2013, Veja online); “Natural beauty creates a success pattern in the competitive hairdressing market” (Ferreira; August 2013, Veja online); “Gisele’s father reveals the secrets of her daughter's career management” (Ortoboni, August 2013, Veja online). “Es la obesidad una barrera para conseguir empleo?: vidas activas y saludables como fórmula ganadora"(Mijares, May 2014, En Oriente); "How beauty in Brazil has become a religion and body, an obsession" (Beirão, December 2014, Carta Capital on-line); "How beauty patterns are getting higher and irrealistic in Brazil, which has recently topped the global ranking of plastic surgeries. Here, talking about other people’s bodies is always a hot topic" (Duarte, Jan 2015, Zero Hora); "Scientists Seek Ban on Method of Editing the Human Genome" (Wade; March 2015, The New York Times); "Beauty market continues to grow in Brazil, even amid a crisis" (<www.g1.globo.com>, retrieved on September 07, 2015); "Beauty industry grows and attracts new investors" (Cejano, September 2015, Investimentos e negócios); "Beauty, a market of no crisis" (Pio, September 2015, Negócios e oportunidades). "Crisis boosts growth of the beauty sector in Southern Pára"(G1, 2016).
On Facebook there are several profiles offering beauty tips and content, which are followed by thousands of people. It should be recalled that these are public profiles that can be associated to individuals, products, sales outlets, cartoons, bands, artists, etc. When a Facebook user follows such a profile, it is usually because the subject interests him/her or he/she agrees with the content made available by such a profile or page. Most of the profiles that appear when searching the word "beauty" are related to beauty products, beauty salons, other venues dedicated to beauty services and also beauty tips.
On YouTube, which is considered a new digital method for the disclosure of information and services, in 2016 alone (January to April) approximately 102,000 results related to the word beauty were found. If the search includes beauty tips, the number rises to approximately 142,000 results. The main highlights are: beauty product advertisements, snippets of television programs that provide tips on beauty product, snippets of television programs that teach about beauty care, random tips on beauty and health, beauty secrets from celebrities, beauty tips for men, beauty tips for children, anti-aging tips, hair care, face care, etc. Such data help highlight the many ways in which physical attractiveness has been emphasized in today's society.
Regarding the concept of immaterial labor, it is important to emphasize its possible relation with physical attractiveness, especially in the development of tasks within the scope of customer relationship. Immaterial labor covers all the knowledge and experiences of workers, including how their lifestyle affect the way they work. Thus, routines are changed to allow workers to build on life experiences that add value to their work. This would be the reason for workers to change their bodies in search of a beauty pattern that would help them fit into their work environment.
Administrative management, in turn, has proven to be a system of values that governs the life of workers both inside and outside the working environment. Managerialism values have spread as guiding principles for the workers’ lives and reached even those in their social and family circles. In this way, administrative management as an ideology focus on the idea that everything can and must be profitable, including physical attractiveness. When reflecting upon beauty, it has been found that a certain beauty standard has been consolidated by fashion, the media or even the industry. Studying physical attractiveness is key to understand beauty methods. The current beauty standard includes a thin, young looking and healthy body. And, in an attempt to achieve such body, subjects undergo different procedures, ranging from physical exercises to aesthetic surgeries. Such procedures are considered the current beauty methods.
Data disclosed by and regarding the beauty industry in Brazil point to a significant growth of this sector. This points to an increasing level of concern with beauty and beautification methods. In addition, articles selected from newspapers and magazines show a growing and emphatic concern about physical attractiveness beauty and how it impacts work. These examples support the arguments introduced by this paper, at a time when beauty as a market has been growing economically; and also provoke a reflection, due to the subjects' concern with their physical beautification, which has been demonstrated in the selected articles, which relate power, victory and success to physical attractiveness.
An overall analysis of IBGE data indicates that, in Brazil, sales revenue of beauty companies has been growing throughout the period under analysis. Such as in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, according to what was observed in the JUCERGS survey, there was an expressive increase of new companies entering the beauty sector. This fact supports the news disclosed in widespread newspapers and still relates to the figures on plastic surgery and the personal hygiene sector. Therefore, all data and surveys point to a growth of the beauty industry.
Evidence was therefore found pointing to a relationship between production and consumption of beauty products with a view to the profitability of the self and the labor. This fact is supported by the indexes about the Brazilian industry from IBGE indicators that point to a year-over-year increase in the beauty industry and relate to factors such as the high number of headlines confirming the fact that the beauty industry is in rapid growth in Brazil.
Finally, it could be said that the beauty industry is booming in Brazil, considering the indications presented, which instigates us to continue studies on the relation between immaterial work, administrative management and physical attractiveness, having in mind the possible existence of a beauty pattern associated to current forms of work.
Descriptive Statistics (from January 2010 to December 2014)
Source: prepared by the authors.
Image 1
Variation of sales volume in retail trade: pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic, perfumery and cosmetic products by state (annual average, from 2010 to 2014).
Source: prepared by the authors.
Descriptive Statistics (from January 2010 to December 2014)
Source: prepared by the authors.
Image 2
Variation of net sales volume in retail trade of “pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic, perfumery and cosmetic products” (from 2010 to 2014).
Source: prepared by the authors.
CNAE code of related activities used for research purposes
Source: prepared by the author.
Number of companies in the beauty sector recorded at JUCERGS (from 1994 to 2014)
Source: prepared by the author.
Image 3
Evolution of the total number of beauty companies incorporated in Rio Grande do Sul.
Source: prepared by the author.
