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trickykittyBack when I was young I watched pageants here and there, but nowadays I don't care for much of anything shown on regular TV. Either way, this is an interesting little thing that seems to be going on in the media right now.
Link, since video embed is being annoying
Now, I don't see "super thin" as the new normal, but then again, I don't look at the reigning Miss Indiana and see her as super thin. I don't think I would have guessed that she was a size 4 looking at her images. I WAS super thin growing up, and at 5' 7" - 120 lbs, and therefore an equivalent 15 lbs less than Miss Indiana, getting the nickname "bean pole" was typical for me, and I hovered around sizes 8-10 from ages 12-24. Finding pants was always a struggle and I tended to have to wear "high waters" for which my sister would constantly laugh and chide at me. The point is, I was just highly active all the time and I would eat like a pig and never gain weight. Mom once threatened me in my early 20's to send me to a psychiatrist if I lost any more weight, but I couldn't comprehend gaining or losing weight (I never paid any attention to it), because seriously, I could eat an entire rack of ribs, a stuffed potato and other sides, and still have room for dessert without throwing it all back up. It was just my heredity and metabolism combined with my very active lifestyle.
I think what is most important to ask isn't dress size. Size 4 means something different based on different heights and body styles. Instead, ask, does she look healthy. I wish that was what the media focused on instead of dress size. Miss Indiana looks damn healthy and fit. She doesn't look to me like she's starving nor over eating. I'm glad she's an inspiration to those that do find other contestants to come off as unhealthy.
What I also find annoying is that "curvy" versus "not-curvy" is also coming into the equation. Are you suggesting that a person has a choice? They can choose broad shoulders and rounded hips over flat chested, flat ass, and no hips?
And as an aside, let's talk skin shade, because I have yet to see a "pasty white" winner in a pageant. Yeah, yeah, it's also a beef of mine, since I have some of the whitest skin you will ever know (see previous post about how even my eye pigment is bordering on albino levels).
So, it's these kinds of discussions that caused me to stop wanting to watch pageants at all. There is also a Miss Plus (America, USA, International). Most of those women seem to me to be too big, and so I wonder if they had someone "closer to normal" if that person would get just as much popular feedback. I imagine not, because I also know that the kind of person that is attracted to big women find women closer to normal to be TOO thin. Comments made towards someone thinner in a Miss Plus pageant would probably tend to be very negative: "Oh, well, why don't we just give up the Miss Plus altogether and stick with the Bean Pole pageants that permeate negative self-image?" It's all in the eye of the beholder.
I'm trying to find the Miss Average pageant, but it doesn't seem to exist, at least not on TV. However, head for the nearby grocery store, and OMFG you would not believe how many beautiful, AVERAGE women exist out there. No wonder there's no "average" pageant. We'd all be winners!
Oh lord - Cup Size Choir.
Link, since video embed is being annoying
Now, I don't see "super thin" as the new normal, but then again, I don't look at the reigning Miss Indiana and see her as super thin. I don't think I would have guessed that she was a size 4 looking at her images. I WAS super thin growing up, and at 5' 7" - 120 lbs, and therefore an equivalent 15 lbs less than Miss Indiana, getting the nickname "bean pole" was typical for me, and I hovered around sizes 8-10 from ages 12-24. Finding pants was always a struggle and I tended to have to wear "high waters" for which my sister would constantly laugh and chide at me. The point is, I was just highly active all the time and I would eat like a pig and never gain weight. Mom once threatened me in my early 20's to send me to a psychiatrist if I lost any more weight, but I couldn't comprehend gaining or losing weight (I never paid any attention to it), because seriously, I could eat an entire rack of ribs, a stuffed potato and other sides, and still have room for dessert without throwing it all back up. It was just my heredity and metabolism combined with my very active lifestyle.
I think what is most important to ask isn't dress size. Size 4 means something different based on different heights and body styles. Instead, ask, does she look healthy. I wish that was what the media focused on instead of dress size. Miss Indiana looks damn healthy and fit. She doesn't look to me like she's starving nor over eating. I'm glad she's an inspiration to those that do find other contestants to come off as unhealthy.
What I also find annoying is that "curvy" versus "not-curvy" is also coming into the equation. Are you suggesting that a person has a choice? They can choose broad shoulders and rounded hips over flat chested, flat ass, and no hips?
And as an aside, let's talk skin shade, because I have yet to see a "pasty white" winner in a pageant. Yeah, yeah, it's also a beef of mine, since I have some of the whitest skin you will ever know (see previous post about how even my eye pigment is bordering on albino levels).
So, it's these kinds of discussions that caused me to stop wanting to watch pageants at all. There is also a Miss Plus (America, USA, International). Most of those women seem to me to be too big, and so I wonder if they had someone "closer to normal" if that person would get just as much popular feedback. I imagine not, because I also know that the kind of person that is attracted to big women find women closer to normal to be TOO thin. Comments made towards someone thinner in a Miss Plus pageant would probably tend to be very negative: "Oh, well, why don't we just give up the Miss Plus altogether and stick with the Bean Pole pageants that permeate negative self-image?" It's all in the eye of the beholder.
I'm trying to find the Miss Average pageant, but it doesn't seem to exist, at least not on TV. However, head for the nearby grocery store, and OMFG you would not believe how many beautiful, AVERAGE women exist out there. No wonder there's no "average" pageant. We'd all be winners!
Oh lord - Cup Size Choir.
