Jha gets ready back stage. (Photo: GT/Li Hao)
Beautiful both outside and in
Karla Pudou, a 26-year-old student from The Gabonese Republic, won the talent show section with a kickboxing display that impressed the judges.
Weighing a curvy 120 kilograms, Pudou was not the only one left breathless by her powerful display.
"In my own country, people like plus-sized figures, because [it indicates] high social status and wealth," Pudou said. "[But] since coming to China three years ago, I've been lost. I couldn't find clothes and shoes that fit, and some people have even come up to me on the street to ask me why I eat so [much] and became so fat."
Pudou said she exercises for one and a half hours each day, not to lose weight, but to stay healthy. "Being fat does not mean that we are just eating and doing nothing, that we are lazy asses," Pudou said.
"People's DNA are different. It's not our choice to be big. The important thing is to be healthy, and to accept yourself and your natural beauty."
She said she was saddened by the fact that many Chinese girls seemed to think they were "ugly" if they gained a little weight. "I want to tell those girls even if you are big, you can still have a wonderful life," she said.
Liang Yushi, former assistant dean of the People's Liberation Army Academy of Art and one of six judges on the night, said that the evening showed people that conventional definitions of beauty were too narrow.
"I think plus-sized beauty pageants can help people see the beauty of human nature, to realize that everyone has their own beauty," said Liang.
Another judge, Doron Reshen, said that his criterion for scoring the pageant was based on the contestants' poise and grace.
"[I was interested in] how they handled themselves, and the picture they portrayed of themselves," said Reshen.
An enthusiastic reception
"In my country, there is a saying that meat is for men, and bones are for boys," said Bitenu Alain, a 24-year-old audience member from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
"I am a man, so I like big and curvy women," he smiled. "If I am to find a girlfriend, I would find me a big one."
Frank Hersey, who was a member of the media panel responsible for choosing the Miss Photogenic award, said he thought it important to have such events in both China and the UK, where he is from.
"Both the two countries have a cultural trend of thinking skinny is beautiful," said Hersey. "So it's very important to let the girls know that no matter what their sizes are, they can be beautiful just being who they are."
Hersey noted that anorexia and other eating disorders were a problem in the UK, and added that pageants such as the one organized by AAN help address it.
According to the UK's National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence, eating disorders affect 2.5 percent of the country's 64 million people. A Global Times report published last month noted that anorexia is also on the rise in China.
Zhang Yaotian, a 23-year-old audience member from Beijing, said that although he had never dated a plus-sized woman in his own life, he was completely in favor of the positive message espoused by the event.
"I'm impressed by the joyful radiance of the large ladies, they're incredibly brave," Zhang said. "Some girls are troubled by and unhappy with their size, but they shouldn't be."
