In some places, women who gain a few pounds lose their beauty pageant title.
In Israel, only the hefty need apply for one beauty title
The annual Miss Large competition took place recently in Beersheba, and Vered Fisher, center, a former member of an intelligence unit in the Israeli Army, was declared the winner. She weights nearly 250 pounds.
The pageant, which is limited to women who weight at least 80 kilograms (176 pounds), annually draws about 20 entrants who appear in casual wear and evening gowns. The winner gets a diamond ring and modeling contract.
“Stay this way because you are as pretty as you are and you can succeed as you are,” Fisher declared after winning her crown.
The Miss Large pageant was not Israel’s only attempt to take the glamour away from waif-like forms; the Knesset earlier this year banned the use of under-weight models in advertisements.
