Curves hit the catwalk in France

This is a great article that covers the recent plus size beauty contest held in France. The only contest held in the country to crown a curvy queen with the title of “La Ronde”, which translates to the round. The contest was started because a man wanted his wife to appreciate her beauty. This a fabulous idea, more women should love the body that they are blessed with. It’s funny to see where culture has gone, in early days curvy women were desired for their voluptuous bodies which were thought to have meant the women were fertile and could take care of a man. My fiance, who is Portuguese, says that it is considered more attractive if a woman has curves on her in Portugal. Skinny is a negative word to say over there, like saying fat here. What happened to America. We need to appreciate all beauty. Thin isn’t the only body type or kind of beauty. Everyone can be sexy and stunning. While rail thin models stalk the catwalks of Paris for global fashion brands such as Dior and Versace elsewhere in France a very different kind of runway show has been taking place. The Miss Ronde pageant is also dedicated to women and beauty, but the 26 models taking part in this style spectacle are a very different breed of female. These voluptous French women are all competing to be crowned queen of La Ronde (literally trabslated as ‘the round’) – the country’s only plus-size beauty contest. The competition began life online in 2007. Calais pychotherapist Thierry Frezard wanted to create something to help his plus-size wife appreciate that she was beautiful and so started an online beauty contest to highlight how glorious curves can be. In 2010 it moved offline and came to life as women came together to compete for the title in runway shows, united in the desire to be recognized as women and not just as plus-size. Today a jury of eight people decide between the contestants after listening to three speeches about their life, work and motivation, as well as watching them in a variety of outfits on the catwalk. According to the competition’s website: ‘The key word of this joint action is tolerance because being round should not be synonymous with rejection, denigration, abnormality, or guilt. The Miss Ronde Committee is convinced that with the charm, wit, and beauty of curvy women of France as well as the will, perseverance and commitment of the Regional Committees, the will finally make it past this message.’ The 2013 event in Calais is the 6th annual competition and the crown was taken home by Julia Castelli.