The finals of a beauty contest “Miss Universe: Russia” will be held from April 12 through April16. A winner of the contest will represent Russia in Ecuador where an international event “Miss Universe” will be held later this year. Alena Pisklova, a Muscovite, the most unusual contestant in the Moscow competition, didn’t make to the finals though she’d won the majority of votes via the Internet at the selections.
Official sources say that Alena who’s rather plump for a fashion model ( height – 164 cm; weight – 60 kg) was banished from the finals because of her age. She happened to be only 15 whereas contestants must be 18 years old at the time of competition. Rambler, one of Russia’s top provider of the Internet services was quick to hand out a consolation prize of the popular support to the girl. Before long the public began to cool down and Alena became history.
We might as well stop here and write no more about that presumably funny story featuring a pretty girl with irregular hip and breast sizes. The story that was either made up from the very start as some kind of a joke or a clever PR campaign move. Maybe the plot targeted the Internet users who’re always keen to join any kind of protest just for the hell of it. However, we believe that far more serious reasons triggered all the buzz around the fat girl. The reasons that enable us to arrive at quite interesting conclusions with regard to the state of health of this country. We’re also going to take a look at what the future holds in store for Russia, health-wise.
Beauty contests promote dystrophy
Back in 2000, a team of American dystologists conducted a research analyzing the physical data of all the winners of Miss America contests that had been running in the USA since 1922. Their study shows that the physical characteristics of American beauties were growing increasingly dystrophic over the last few years.
Researchers used one of the weight and height indicators (weight-height ratio in a female body) for their analysis. They find out that the indicator always stayed within a normal range (20-25) during the first decade of the contest. The second half of the 20th century saw the ratio moving steadily towards the critical level which is 18.5. The above level is dystrophy as defined by experts of the World Health Organization.
Americans also said that the unhealthy trend is likely to result in serious problems for millions of women should it continue to grow on by firmly instilling highly pathological ideas about the female beauty in the public.
Other countries have similar problems too. The public opinion poll conducted by REAL, a British magazine, show that three quarters of British females were unhappy about their bodies while 71% think they’re overweight and 60% admitted sinking in depression as they pondered their bodies. In the meantime, the weight-height ratios of half the women polled were quite normal and 84% of them who weren’t overweight would like to burn 4 kilos on the average. Experts believe that the results of the poll had to do with the way most top models and actresses look these days. Many British women want to imitate it. They want to look thin and shapely as those ladies do. But those ladies normally lack a big deal of their body weight.
It’s only natural that beauty products manufacturers play tricks to keep women interested in getting slimmer. Lots of advertising on TV and in women’s magazines sell various recipes and techniques to numerous females who want to lose weight or get rid of flaccid skin and lumpy fat deposits on their thighs and buttocks. Trimming the body or fighting cellulite can only work when administered individually. The irresponsible and indiscriminate approach leads to more depression due to freshly gained kilos.
Men’s dreams and economic trends
Skeptics may say that Alena Pisklova’s popularity has become a symbol of protest against all that fussy media activity promoting lower weight and slimmer body. But women do want to slim down to look more attractive to men.
It’s not necessarily true. Last year an American research team headed by a physiologist called Terry Pettyjohn found a link between the slimness of models and the state of national economy. Researchers fumbled through the copies of Playboy from 1960 through 2000 for that matter. They found out that American men preferred statuesque women when the U.S. economy was in crisis. On the contrary, good economic indicators made frail and gracefully built women all the rage. Ann Nicole Smith, the most buxom of the Playmates of the Year, got her title in 1993, one of the worst years in modern American history, according to some economists and sociologists.
“In short, we look for fun when we feel good and we look for care when we feel bad,” said Terry Pettyjohn about his findings.
Maybe that’s the reason behind the popularity of Alena Pisklova and the popular campaign on the Web which read: “Say no to Barbi dolls”. The war in Chechnya, terror attacks in the cities, man-made disasters of recent months can hardly fill the Russian man with desire to salivate over a woman that looks like a dress hanger. She surely looks great but only on a catwalk or a boutique, the places specifically made for the beautiful dress hangers. Alena Pisklova is just the first sign of a massive attitude shift. How will the next Russian beauty on the next international contest look like? She might be pregnant. At least the organizers of the future competitions should give it a thought.
