Just a few days ago, Icelandic beauty queen Arna Ýr Jónsdóttir was prepping for the Miss Grand International competition in Las Vegas. After all, she did take the title of Miss Iceland 2015, so it's not like Jónsdóttir was new to the pageant circuit. But to her surprise, Thai TV presenter Nawat Itsaragrisi, the owner of Vegas beauty competition, ordered the 20 year old to "lose weight" if she wanted to compete—and, of course, succeed. Specifically, Jónsdóttir says she received a message saying, “Stop eating breakfast, eat just salad for lunch and drink water every evening until the contest. [The owner] is telling you this because he likes you and wants you to do well in this contest," as reported by the Daily Beast.
Unbelievable, right? There are enough pressures on women, lest alone beauty-pageant queens—to look their "best," whatever that may mean—at any given time. But thankfully, Jónsdóttir took the high road—not only did she quit the competition, but she spoke out against the body-shaming tactics used by its founders, too.
"Yes, my shoulders are a bit broader than the other girl's but that is because I was a member of the Icelandic national athletics team and I am proud of that," Jónsdóttir told The Iceland Monitor after the incident occurred. "Personally, I think I'm fine as I am," she concluded.
Take a tour of Iceland's incredible Blue Lagoon Spa:
So not only is she athletic and beautiful, but Jónsdóttir has also become a beacon of body positivity in the wake of the incident. Turns out here at Allure we're not the only ones that value her amazing body image—Nike has, too. In an Instagram post, J wrote, "My past has made me who I am today. I'm so proud to be one of the faces for Nike and if I would not have my sporty body I would never have gotten this huge opportunity to work with Nike."
Body shaming—and the perpetuation of unrealistic, narrow beauty ideals—are rampant, but especially so within beauty pageants. It was just a few weeks ago that the first plus size Miss Italy was called the "politically correct" choice, perhaps implying that she couldn't have won otherwise. We literally
It echoes the other issues surrounding beauty pageants, weight, women and politics that are front and center today. Donald Trump and Alicia Machado ring a bell, for instance? But we're hopeful that Nike's endorsement of J (who recently had a body-positive sports bra campaign of its own) and the body-positive moment—#MermaidThighs and all—are just a few more steps towards acceptance of all shapes and sizes.
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