Beauty, they say, lies in the eyes of the beholder. But turns out that’s not the case when it comes to beauty pageants. There, beauty lies in a detailed chart defining all the possible flaws in a woman’s body.
LA Times blogposted a chart that was published in 1959 which illustrated how women’s bodies were judged in the Miss Universe contest.
The text below the chart read:
“ALL FIGURED OUT – This chart is used by judges as [a] guide in picking Miss Universe. First six show figure flaws, seventh is perfectly proportioned. (1) Shoulders too square. (2) Shoulders too sloping. (3) Hips too wide. (4) Shoulder bones too pronounced. (5) Shoulders and back hunched. (6) Legs irregular, with spaces at calves, knees, thighs. (7) The form divine, needs only a beautiful face.”
Not that society’s standards for beauty have changed massively, but this chart reveals the level of scrutiny that women faced in 1959.
The mind, in fact, can’t help but draw parallels between this step-by-step and instructed judgement of a woman’s body and that of livestock in meat judging competitions.
Here are actual handouts from such competitions that help onlookers judge livestock.
Looking at a woman, literally, like a piece of meat. It’s a disgusting way for a society to operate and I’m more grateful than ever that we’re beginning to move away from such lowly stencilled objectification of the female form.
Models everywhere are breaking that mould of the perfect woman everyday and the world is finally truly celebrating them – celebrating imperfect beauty.
We need more women like these ladies. So one day we can truly call a comparison between women and livestock, ‘absurd’.