Stupid law of the week award goes to Brazil

(Maybe the tags will look like this?)

According to the newspaper today and this site, all male and female underwear and bras sold in Brazil will come with a bonus: a mandatory warning label.

Not "this product should be washed frequently" or "don't use as a headcovering except during Carnaval" but something much more public health friendly.

At least, that's what the political babysitters would like people to believe. Sounds like a pain in the butt (no pun intended) to me.

Apparently it only applies in adult underclothes, though I'm not sure with the sizes used here, how anyone would know which was which. In women's underwear, the "etiqueta" must have a warning about the importance of using condoms as a form of cancer prevention (in this case, colon and uterus) as well as encourage an annual gynecological exam if they are sexually active. In bras, the tag must remind consumers to do self breast exams to detect early signs of breast cancer. And for men...tags letting them know that at age 40 and above they need to do a periodical prostrate cancer check. (I wonder if people can get away with selling non-tagged underwear that's marketed to under 40 males and abstinent women?)

This goes for both Brazilian-made as well as imported goods, from what I can tell. Companies who do not comply may be closed down. Because this is just that important. I am so glad the Senate tackles important questions and laws like these while the solved murder rate is 8% for the country (according to the Globo report this week), drugs are rampant and corruption, poverty and poor infrastructure weaken the country's potential.

There are bigger questions to address now. Like whether that amount of information can fit into a tag under 8 inches long and if not, will it be uncomfortable for some users. That's a lot of information to stick in a thong...so maybe they're going to start printing the underwear fabric with these warnings...Let's hope they use ink that doesn't contain known carcinogens! And what are they going to do about the citizens who DON'T wear underwear? Maybe there needs to be a law against that...

Unfortunately, I see this really having a detrimental effect on the lingerie industry. Somehow, the seriousness of cancer really doesn't seem to mix well with the image black lace and lusty satin are trying to sell...or does it?