14 DAY TRIAL // No one said curvy girls can't be beautiful, yet the general tendency in today's culture seems to be to hold that as truth. A beauty pageant that has just reached its 20th year is out to prove to the world that nothing could be farther from the truth.
Miss Large Israel functions under the motto “Fat and Beautiful” and aims to show that beauty isn't exclusive only to those who weigh very little.
This year's winner (see the photo attached) is a 22-year-old woman who weighs 242 pounds (110 kg) and is gorgeous, healthy, proud and ready to tell women that beauty has nothing to do with weight.
“Vered Fisher, who is this year’s Miss Large Israel, beat off stiff competition from 15 other women. Entrants to the event in Beersheva, southern Israel, which is now in its 20th year, must weigh over 176 lbs (80 kg),” The Huffington Post reports.
In Israel, the use of underweight models is banned by law. Advertisers are also forced to make a special mention if they retouch a photo considerably, in a bid to help women maintain a healthy body image.
In this context, this beauty pageant must also be working wonders. If so, mission accomplished.
“There’s no difference between skinny and fat. Nobody said only thin girls are beautiful. I am not encouraging fat but if it exists, then this is the place for it,” Eterica Nagid, modeling agent and the sponsor for the pageant, said.
The newly crowned Miss Large Israel said the same in her acceptance speech, as the video below will confirm.
“Stay this way because you are pretty as you are and you can succeed as you are,” Vered Fisher said.
In the US too, the tendency to organize various events and campaigns to prove that beauty should not know such limitations as weight is also picking up.
A movement called “Fatkini” went viral almost instantly, after a plus-size fashion blogger encouraged her plus-size readers to send her photos of themselves rocking two-piece bathing suits at the beach.
The idea behind it was to show that not only skinny women could sport swimsuits of the kind this summer, and that overweight women could – and should – do the same and look stunning at the same time.