416 Pound Woman Wins Beauty Contest

[matcom]

*Disclaimer: this is a news story. MatcomNews is in no way responsible for the flame wars that may result in this story's posting

<snip>

FORCOLI, Italy (Reuters) - Weighing in at 416 pounds, Giovanna Guidoni, is not your average beauty contest winner. But then again, Italy's annual Miss Cicciona competition is not your average beauty contest.

To compete in Miss Cicciona, which roughly translates as Miss Chubby, women have to weigh more than 220 pounds. Men hoping to walk off with the title of Mr Ciccione have to be at least 330 pounds. This year, 40 women and five men vied for the title.

"The idea isn't to make fun," said Gianfranco Lazzereschi, one of the organizers of the festival held in the Tuscan town of Forcoli. "We wanted to show that the media image of perfection -- being stick-thin -- isn't the only way to get recognized."

The 20-year-old Guidoni crushed the competition.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=573&e=1&u=/nm/20040726/od_nm/odd_italy_chubby_dc

[jpgray]

1. "The 20-year-old Guidoni crushed the competition."

Now is that really necessary? :silly:

[SheilaT]

2. What? No photos?

How discriminatory!

[underpants]

3. Ahem

[philosophie_en_rose]

4. Sounds fun.

I'm not against pageants, in theory. However, the US versions have a really ugly tone to them - fighting anorexics, "The Swan," Ms. Universe threatened for gaining a few pounds. This one seems like fun.

[BlueJazz]

5. I think it's rigged.

She doesn't look to be a pound over 390.