The biggest surprise at Sunday’s Miss USA pageant wasn’t the choice of the winner, the beautiful Miss Nevada, Nia Sanchez. One of the 20 contestants, who didn’t even make it to the top 10 finalists, is now gaining all the media attention. Miss Indiana, Mekayla Diehl has become a real social media phenomenon for her normal, “curvy” shapes.
When the 25-year-old beauty queen Mekayla Diehl from Indiana appeared on the Miss USA 2014 on Sunday, her swimsuit look caused social media craze, although she is reportedly 25 pounds heavier than the average contestant at such a huge event. Thousands of people congratulated her on taking the big stage with a more normal body. We’ve all seen the stereotypical beauty queen at national or international-level pageants – super skinny, tall, perfect measures, perfect face, and dramatic “I wish for peace on Earth” attitude. This year’s winner, the 24-year-old Miss Nevada, Nia Sanchez, is not only extremely beautiful and fits the profile, but she also has a fourth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. But instead of commenting on her success, people were inspired by the average-looking Miss Nevada. Why? Because she broke the rules and despite her curvy shapes, she walked with confidence on the stage of the most prestigious US pageant.
Standing at 5-foot-8, Mekayla Diehl weighs 137 pounds or around 25 pounds more than the average contestant. Comments on the social media called her “thicker”, “normal”, “beautiful” and “not a bag of bones”. However, compared to most women, young or old, she is still slim. The thing is, she is just not too skinny, but way too slender to classify as “normal”. In fact, we should praise her not for being normal or thick, but for looking healthy. The current buzz on the Internet indicates just one – society’s distorted perception of beauty. What is slim and what is fat? And what is too thin? Today, we all want to be thinner! Just look at any woman’s magazine and you will see the trending topics – celebrity diets, best bikini body, how to lose weight without starving, the best diet pills, and so on. How can this be normal?
Have you heard anyone complaining about being too thin? Losing weight doesn’t make you happier and doesn’t solve your problems. Being healthy and in a good shape also doesn’t mean being slim. However, hating the normal, womanly body is the new normal and until this changes, the weight loss industry will make millions out of us.
