Brazilians: Carnival Isn't All About Sex

Revelers perform during the parade of Imperio de Casa Verde samba school at the sambodrome in Sao Paulo, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2007. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) (Andre Penner - AP)

Total nudity is prohibited and a less-than-perfect score from the exacting panel of judges can doom a group's chances.

There are other limits, too, in this predominantly Roman Catholic country.

Toplessness is still considered taboo on the city's beaches, although many people came out to greet Pope John Paul II in bikinis and thongs some years back. And in 2005, the Rio state government banned postcards showing bikini-clad women in photo montages or outside natural beach settings.

"Showing women in skimpy outfits, usually from the rear, is a disservice to our country," the law's sponsor, state Sen. Alice Tamborindeguy, said at the time.

Still, most Brazilians don't duck the issue of sex.

The government distributes millions of free condoms at carnival time and talks frankly about sexually transmitted diseases. Experts credit the Brazilians' openness about their bodies and sex for helping to contain the AIDS epidemic in South America's largest country.

"I'm entirely comfortable dressed like this," said this year's Carnival Queen Jacqueline Faria, 23, wearing little more than a rhinestone encrusted push-up bra and a sequin spotted see-through skirt revealing a tiny G-string.

"This is Rio de Janeiro, it's all about the beach and sun. We don't wear many clothes here at anytime during the year," Faria explains. "But Rio de Janeiro isn't just about bum bum. It has lots of other culture."

On Friday, though, there was plenty of bumping, grinding and "bum bum."

Tens of thousands headed to the hilltop neighborhood of Santa Teresa to celebrate with the irreverent carnival group Carmelitas, whose members dress up as nuns. Others fell in behind impromptu "blocos," as the street carnival groups are known, tying up traffic around the city.

For some, the celebrations have been overshadowed this year by rising crime, including drug gang battles and last week's dragging death of 6-year-old Joao Helio Fernandes. The killing of the boy, who was dragged for four miles on the side of a car after it was stolen, shocked a city familiar with violence.

Rio is one of the world's most crime-ridden cities, with a homicide rate of around 50 per 100,000.

On Friday night, several blocos paid homage to Fernandes by distributing white flowers in his memory.