Beauty is only culture-deep

Andrew notices that the winner of Miss Arab World is veiled. What strikes me is that the runners-up, and possibly the winner under all those layers, are at least twenty pounds heavier than the average American beauty contestant. There's real, live, actual body fat under those dresses--and the judges, presumably male, still thought these women were attractive! What's more, the girls are revelling in it, wearing mermaid-style dresses that emphasize their lush curves. Looking at more photographs from the pageant, there seems to be a decent inverse correlation between how westernized a country is, and how thin its representative is . . . although even the thinnest girls would be on the heavy side for Miss America.

It's kind of impossible to overstate how grossly unrealistic American beauty pageant winners have become. The photographs from Miss Teen USA in the 1930's show very pretty girls with normal bodies . . . every one of whom would be on a Spartan diet and excercise regime if she wanted to compete today. Compare them to the Miss America swimsuit competition today, with its starved bodies topped by huge breast implants.