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Brazil's racy telenovelas inspire drop in birth rate, rise in divorce
By Andrew Downie in Sao Paolo
Last Updated: 8:26PM BST 04 Apr 2009

Their colourful story lines of glamorous love triangles, paternity mysteries and rags-to-riches successes have long dominated Brazilian airwaves.

Now the racy telenovelas that are the mainstays of the country's powerful TV Globo network are being credited with something more than just their audience pulling-power.

A study of population data stretching back to 1971 has revealed that Brazil's popular and often fanciful soap operas have had a direct impact on the nation's divorce and birth rates, as the main channel that broadcast them gradually extended its reach across the country.

According to the report, prepared for the Inter-American Development Bank, the rate of marriage break-up rose and the number of children born to each woman fell more quickly in areas receiving the TV Globo signal for the first time.

Over the two decades that were studied, an estimated three million fewer Brazilian babies were born than would have been if telenovelas had never been broadcast, and 800,000 more couples separated or divorced. If the effect continued to the present day, the numbers would be even greater.

"We find that exposure to modern lifestyles as portrayed on television, to emancipated women's roles, and to a critique of traditional values, was associated with increases in the share of separated and divorced woman across Brazil's municipal areas," the report's authors said. What is more, they added, "Women living in areas covered by the Globo signal have significantly lower fertility."

Every Brazilian knows that what happens on TV Globo can affect the real world. Its schedules dictate kick-off times for football matches, its costumes influence design and fashion and the telenovelas' plot lines have influenced the outcome of elections.

But the revelation that the cult of the telenovela has had such impact on the most intimate aspects of its viewers' lives will startle Brazilians. Maria Immacolata Lopes, the coordinator of the Telenovela Centre at USP, one of Brazil's leading universities, said it was the first time that research had been undertaken on such a wide scale. "That makes it important," she said.

Alberto Chong, one of the study's authors, said the reason for the change was the "aspirational ethos" of the country's soaps, which - unlike their grittier equivalents in Britain - tend to portray the upper levels of Brazilian society.

That generally means the characters are whiter, richer and better educated than most of Brazil's 190 million people. They have fewer children and are more likely to be separated or divorced. When viewers saw that image for the first time, they took to it instantly.

If the leading female character of a telenovela was divorced or separated, the divorce rate rose, by an average of 0.1 percentage point, Mr Chong said. At the same time, women in areas reached by the Globo signal had 0.6 per cent fewer children than those in areas with no signal, he added - an apparently small impact, but equating to millions fewer babies born over two decades.

TV Globo reacted with hostility to the study, saying that it underestimated the intelligence of the channel's viewers. A spokesman said the soaps' portrayal of divorce and smaller families reflected the trends of the time, rather than causing them.

"Our dramas are attuned to the questions being asked in society. While we don't doubt the novelas make people think, we don't believe they influence their opinions or choices," said Luis Erlanger, Globo's communications director. "Our novelas are there to entertain, we do journalism to inform."

Mr Chong disagreed, pointing out that the chances of a new-born baby being named after a soap star were significantly higher in areas where the soaps were broadcast.

Other international studies have shown that television can influence behaviour and transform social mores. In India, the arrival of cable television in remote areas caused pregnancy rates to fall and enrolment in education to rise. In Indonesia, a clearer television signal led to less participation in social activities and more distrust.

Although they have lost viewers to the internet and other media, the influence of novelas is evident in other ways throughout Brazil. The increased presence in the television shows of slim and buxom blondes is credited with helping change what was once a nationwide preference for guitar-shaped brunettes.

"Novelas in Brazil take on a greater importance than a simple drama because they move people," said Mauro Alencar, the author of several books about the genre. "But the novela is above all a reflection of society. It feeds off what is exposed in day to day life and recreates a fictional version."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...n-divorce.html

[Voodoo Vince]

We are easy influence by media.

[fallendust]

agree, media like tv and radio are too much influence. I think Singapore also much affected by media too