"Fat And Beautiful" Contest Winner Crowned In Beersheba

In each of the last few years, 40 of the most beautiful Israeli women gather in the southern desert city of Beersheva to compete in a beauty contest that's different from all other beauty contests.  It's the "Fat and Beautiful" contest.  

In order to be accepted as a contestant, an applicant must weigh at least 176 pounds.  This year's contest includes several who weigh close to 264 pounds.

Writing for Agence France-Presse, Majeda el Batsh reports:

Unlike your average beauty pageant, which tends to conform to a strict lean-and-lithe standard, here curves are queen.

Ahead of the show, the atmosphere backstage is one of excitement.

"I'm very beautiful and I'm going to win," 23-year-old Tanya Fayman confidently tells AFP. "I'm very proud of myself and my body and my beauty, and no one has the right to dictate my weight, so why should I be skinny?"

For the evening wear section, Fayman sports a skin-tight strappy dress, high heels and strings of necklaces, her dark hair falling pin-straight to her shoulders.

Proud of her figure, she shows no sign of embarrassment when the side of her top splits open slightly as she talks, simply grabbing a needle and thread to stitch up the tear.

The Russian-born beauty's confidence was well-founded. After two rounds in which the 20 contestants strut their stuff in ball gowns, and a trouser-and-top ensemble, Fayman was crowned the winner.

Beauty contests are meant to be seen, and it wouldn't be fair to our readers to describe a beauty contest without a video to experience it. So here's the video on YouTube, from CBS. 

Enjoy!