Myanmar is set to stage a plus-size pageant next month, with a host of glamorous contestants challenging conventional standards of beauty.
So leave those assumptions about tiny and delicate Asian ladies at the door.
The Miss Plus Size Beauty Queen Contest, scheduled for September 3 at the City FM compound, is open to women weighing at least 180lbs, about 12 stone, according to the Myanmar Times.
The women will compete for three awards: Miss Plus-Size Beauty Queen, Most Photogenic and the People’s Choice.
“Plus-size women do not have equal rights here,” Ma Khin Su Su San, the founder and one of the show’s organisers, told the Times. “Fat women constantly face discrimination in their daily life. Most of them suffer from depression. The purpose of the show is to try to promote positive body image for size women who feel insecure about their size.”
A Facebook group titled ‘200lbs Beauties Myanmar Group’ created last year by Khin Su Su San and some friends has more than 1,000 members.
“You can be beautiful and be 200lbs at the same time,” Khin Su Su San told the Times. “I want plus-size women to believe and trust in themselves. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.”
The contest kicks off at 5:30pm on September 3 and finishes at 9:30pm. For more details, check out the Facebook page.
