Miss Bumbum is an annual
beauty pageant held in
Brazil to reward the owner of the best
buttocks in the country.[1][2] Created by journalist and entrepreneur Cacau Oliver,[3][4][5][6][7] the competition has 27 contestants, each of whom represents one of the country's
27 states.[1] The winner receives 50,000
Brazilian reais (about US$22,000) in endorsement deals, and instantly becomes a celebrity in Brazil.[1] Brazilian television network
RedeTV! broadcasts the event.[8] The reigning title holder is Larissa Sumpani.
Miss Bumbum made its first foray into the US market by licensing an official 2017 calendar for distribution in the US. The calendar was published in December 2016, featuring the 2016 winner Erika Canela on the cover.[9]
In October 2013, according to the International Business Times, models Mari Sousa (25) and Eliana Amaral (24) were accused of paying the equivalent of thousands of US dollars in bribes to the judges of the contest.[27]
In 2018, two
trans women became contestants for Miss Bumbum, the first trans women to do so. Several of the other contestants objected to the inclusion of trans women in the contest.[28] The 2018 contest was also marred by a losing contestant, Aline Uva, accusing her opposition of having
surgically augmented buttocks and causing a ruckus onstage.[14]
Similar contests
Miss Bumbum Brazil has led to the spin-off competitions Miss Bumbum World,[29] the Fitness Angel Show in Japan[30] and one for the
FIFA World Cup in
soccer.[citation needed]Miss Reef, held in Chile[31] and various other South American countries,[citation needed] and
Got Ass, held in North America, are similar competitions engaged in judging which women have the best buttocks.[32]
Cultural context
In Brazilian slang, bumbum is a term used for a woman's buttocks, which are considered an important element of physical beauty in Brazilian culture.[33] An appreciation of well-shaped and sizeable female buttocks is common and widespread in Brazil[34] and the traditional Brazilian preference is for women to have large round buttocks,[33] the Brazilian ideal being much wider, thicker and shapelier than may often be associated with the European ideal.[34] In 2014, more than 50,000
buttock implant procedures were performed in Brazil, compared to 19,000 in the United States.[35] The popularity of the Miss Bumbum contest in Brazil in 2014 led to online voting for the winner exceeding 2 million votes.[34]