A Miss USA contestant has drawn praise on Twitter for what’s been widely described as her “normal body”.
Miss Indiana — 25-year-old Mekayla Diehl — was eliminated before reaching the top 10 in the pageant on Sunday , but made headlines anyway as she sparked a twitter frenzy during her appearance in the swimsuit segment of the competition.
For looking like this:
In response to her fit and tanned– but not emaciated — appearance, one commentator on Twitter wrote: “Finally a contestant who’s not a bag of bones.”
Another tweeted: “Miss Indiana shows you don’t have to be super skinny to be beautiful.”
Other twitter reactions included: “Dear #Miss Indiana thank you for looking like an average woman” and “Upset. Miss Indiana looked like a normal person…and she didn’t make the cut”.
But others have hit back at descriptions of Ms Diehl’s figure as “average,” pointing out that the beauty queen is still several sizes smaller than the median dress size in the USA.
One commentator tweeted: “Are we seriously talking about how Miss Indiana has an “average” figure?! Y’all. She’s like a size 2! OMG this society kills me sometimes.”
Others weighed in about whether phrases like “normal” and “average” were being dangerously used as euphemisms in the debate.
Some wrote: “So were people saying by ‘normal’ that Miss Indiana was fat?! Because, if so, sign me up for the fat train,” and “Calling this woman ‘fat’ means u should be smacked! Women should look like women!”
Ms Diehl played down the twitter controversy in a tweet today, saying she is happy to represent a body image outside of the pageant ideal.
‘I worked hard on my body without obsessing over being too skinny and I couldn’t be more proud,’ she tweeted this morning.
So we want to know – What do you think of the whole twitter controversy? Are you also wondering why it’s even news?
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Top Comments
STOP USING NORMAL TO DESCRIBE BODIES. There is no such thing as "normal" in anything but particularly in people who are all unique.
Yes, she does have a 'average/normal' body. We need to stop accepting overweight and obese body types as the 'norm'!! She may be slim, but she also looks fit and healthy!
Agreed. Her body is normal. She looks fit but in a healthy weight range. She may not be the average size but I would argue that most (not all) obese people are not their biological size but a product of western lifestyle.
In fairness, she's got a very fit and toned "normal" body. For people post-baby with an office job, there would be a huge amount of planning an effort to have that body (compared to someone studying or in another situation where they can easily work out every day and cook small healthy meals throughout the day). It's possible, but it would have to be a huge priority.
I agree that overweight shouldn't be the norm - but let's not pretend her body is easily achievable for everyone either.