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Researchers held in-depth interviews with female university students and professors in Cuba and Mexico. They set out to better understand why Cuban college women may hold more positive attitudes about their beauty and appearance than their female peers in Mexico. In general, ‘Cubanas’ project an air of self-confidence and demonstrate a positive appreciation about their looks that is unique among Latin American women. However, with rapid societal changes sweeping across their island nation, Cuban researchers have noted a rise in the incidence of women’s poor body esteem. This problem affects young and older women alike. Commercial advertising is non-existent in Cuba where women’s exposure to a thin, Nordic ideal of beauty through print and electronic media is limited and where social programs and customs favour their social advance. In comparison, a much higher incidence of poor body esteem exists in Mexico among ‘Mexicanas.’ Researchers in neighbouring Mexico generally attribute this problem to the relentless promotion of an unrealistically thin feminine ideal by commercial mass media and to particular social and cultural norms. Participants’ comments in Cuba reveal that a cultural trend rooted in consumer beliefs and practices is emerging in Cuba that is altering people’s perception of beauty. Correspondingly, Mexican women’s comments about their appearance illustrated a broader, pervasive social problem influencing their body esteem. Nevertheless, evidence of a cultural trend promoting a more realistic ideal of feminine beauty in Mexico emerged from these discussions. New social attitudes are empowering young women to pursue university studies and to assume leading roles in Mexican society.