The annual Miss Universe pageant has been known for celebrating the most beautiful women in the world. While the primary focus of the event is on physical beauty, there has always been an effort to showcase the talent, intelligence and social awareness of the contestants. The 2011 pageant, held in Brazil, offered an even further divergence from what many may consider to be the typical definition of beauty with the crowning of an African woman, Leila Lopes from Angola. Lopes said in the interview portion that she would change nothing about her physical appearance because she loved herself and had inner beauty. This direct, seemingly unconventional response is said to have played a role in her victory.
Lopes was seen by the judges as being the most charming contestant of that evening. She really embodied the natural, inner beauty that they were looking for. In fact, in the days after the pageant, a judge said that they were told to favour candidates who looked natural over those who seemed to have had a little enhancement done. Did this really reflect an objective standard? Are we now supposed to think that a woman who undergoes hair loss treatment or receives HCG Injections for a weight problem is automatically less beautiful than one who does not?