No One Wants a Large Miss Universe

It's so cliché to say "It's 2017, why is this still an issue?" But that is just the case for the topic of a woman that is not the "standard" size of society to do great things. I have not been watching the Miss Universe Pageant, but I did come across a lot of articles on the obsession people have about Miss Canada's size. Lets be very clear! Miss Canada, Siera Bearchell, is far from overweight. However compared to all the other pageant women that are typically thin she does have a larger frame.


Siera has not always been the size she is right now. At Miss Supranational 2015 Bearchell was slim like her counterparts. When asked about her weight gain in an interview she stated:

"This competition is more than what we look like. It's about being comfortable with who we are, it's about sharing a message that is important to us."

Not everyone is comfortable being thin and when you approach an avenue where you have to have a specific body type many do not last. It is important to understand everyone does not have to be in one particular box to excel. The fact that people would tell her she needs to lose weight and/or that she will lose points for being the size she is comfortable in is not only ridiculous, but it is hurtful and rude.


No one knows or even has the right to know why Siera gained weight. While I understand when you put yourself out there you have to be ready for comments whether good or bad, who has the right to tell someone what to do with their body.

"How does it feel to be so much.. larger than the other delegates?"• I was just asked this question in a press junket by a member of the media. I was left almost speechless. I thought, "How does it feel to be myself? How does it feel to be confident in who I am? How does it feel to fulfill my dream of representing Canada on the Miss Universe stage? How does it feel to be a role model for so many young women who struggle to find someone to look up to? How does it feel to redefine beauty?"- My answer- It feels great. #confidentlybeautiful #beautybeyondsize #bodydiversity #missuniverse #misscanada @missuniverse" she said on her Instagram.

Questions like these are the reason we have young girls hating their body before they can even become a women. Main stream society is so obsessed with what a beautiful woman should look like they forget not everyone will look the same.  There are 13 year old girls trying to look like and be Instagram models when we can have them being amazing women like Siera Bearchell and Michelle Obama.


We can only hope that with more positive conversation and inclusion of all sizes that moments like these less frequent and eventually go away.