Deemed too fat, Miss Iceland 2015 decides to call it quits

As reported in the Iceland Monitor, owners of the Miss Grand International beauty contest sent Jónsdóttir a message advising her to “stop eating breakfast, eat just salad for lunch and drink water every evening until the contest.”

Naturally Jónsdóttir was taken aback by the advice which came via spokespeople on behalf of the pageant owner Thai television personality Nawat Itsaragrisil.

“If the owner of the contest really wants me to lose weight and doesn’t like me the way I am, then he doesn’t deserve to have me in the Top 10,” she told the Iceland Monitor.

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Jónsdóttir, who is 20 years old and hails from Reykjavik, Iceland, was crowned Miss Iceland in September 2015. Her original hobbies and activities were gymnastics and track and field, and she was a pole vaulter for the Icelandic National Team.

Miss Grand International pageant reports that it is one of the top five beauty pageants in the world along with Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss International and Miss Supranational, and that it is “under the corporation and sponsorship from governments and organisations that will make a stand for the betterment of humanity.”

Its website describes the organization’s mission as being “an end to all forms of violence and hostility. For the sake of our children and the generations to follow, it is our duty domestically and internationally to rid the world of conflict and focus our efforts on improving the quality of life for all humanity.” The 2016 Miss Grand International Beauty Pageant will take place October 25 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This should be a familiar refrain by now. Whether its the infamous owner of Miss Universe, aka, Donald Trump telling standing pageant winner Alicia Machado back in the 1990s that she needs to lose weight, and subsequently shaming her into it on national TV; or, more recently, a Miss Italy runner-up body shamed from all sides for her (European) size-14 frame. Apparently, many pageant owners and spectators believe that women taking to the stage to compete means they can be judged beyond the rules of the competition. One wonders if that will ever cease.

As for the fate of Jónsdóttir, she replied to the so-called helpful advice by announcing she’ll stop competing. “I no longer have any interest in doing my best in this competition after receiving that message,” she said. “This is definitely the last contest I shall be taking part in.”

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