Mexican beauty queen loses crown after gaining six pounds
By Kelly BourdetAugust 9th, 2011, 9:54 amComments (10)Cynthia de la Vega, the nineteen-year-old runner up in the Miss Mexico pageant, has been stripped of her title and her opportunity to compete in the Miss World pageant. She claims she was relieved of her crown due to a six-pound weight gain.
Pageant coordinators don't outright admit they gave her the boot over the weight issue, instead saying that, "it was a lack of dedication and discipline," and "She did not comply with the recommendations and goal agreed upon for her preparation." Right. We get it. The goal was losing six pounds.
I'm always somewhat conflicted when I hear a story about how some pageant contestant was stripped of her title based on some flimsy excuse. Obviously, I feel outraged because it's terrible to take away someone's title because of something as absurd as gaining six pounds. But isn't it the competition in which weight and appearance are the fundamental criteria that's really so terrible? Sure, you can try to shift the standard of beauty by a few degrees, but you're still existing in a world where women are paraded across a stage and judged on their physical appearance. You know that when you enter yourself into a beauty pageant.
Commentarium (10 Comments)
I certainly sympathize with Miss de la Vega, but anyone looking for rational concepts of gender and beauty on the pageant circuit is destined to be disappointed.
6lb fetus?
Damn right, Kelly. It's unfair but then again this is a *beauty* contest.
Um, a beauty contest is by definition a shallow, superficial mysoginistic affair based solely on physical appearance. She wanted to participate, I don't see the problem
here.
It's not a beauty pageant, it's a scholarship program!
Way to be snarky instead of being human, all. A woman's being discriminated against because of her weight - DESPITE THAT SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL ENOUGH TO WIN A BEAUTY PAGEANT. If you can't realize that's messed up - that in itself is a little messed up. Might want to look at that.
Well, anon, as much as I am body positive and think that beauty is subjective.. beauty pageants have a very narrow range of "beauty". That doesn't mean the rest of us agree upon it BUT, it seems to be acceptable within that community. Look at the "pageant kids" in the US and you see what I mean.
With that said, someone who gets into that sort of circuit must have some idea of it. So yes, it fucking sucks esp. over six pounds and also encourages the idea that even someone who is traditionally beautiful can't be beautiful if they are fat, it's also part and parcel of the game. If they're going to perpetuate that and disagree with it, then stop participating and stop having them around, agree that all bodies are good bodies and beauty is not some set thing that can be determined by a contest.
This seems harsh
If she's going to get fat, why not take the crown back?
She's not being discriminated against, she's failing to meet the criteria. She wanted to play their shallow stupid game...