Has anyone out there noticed that the most beautiful contestants never seem to win beauty pageants any more?

The 2004 Mіss Unіvеrsе crown was set upon the head of Mіss Aυstrаlіа the other night, even though she should have come in 3rd. Mіss Ecυаdоr and Mіss Cоstа Rica should have been first and second, respectively.

Overall this contest was a brilliant success. Not only did it attract more beautiful women that any other contest in memory, but more of them made it into the top 10 as well. However, it was disappointing that the woman most clearly beautiful did not win. They had come so far only to blow it in the final stages.

The reason, believe it or not, is because such contests are no longer meant to reward the most beautiful contestant. Instead, as one of the Mіss Unіvеrsе judges said last night, they are looking for the most natural, the most comfortable in her skin, the most 'real'.

Thus the most objectively beautiful doesn't win. She is not meant to.

The only exception we've seen lately was the television reality show Thе Swаn. Thе Swаn took several ugly women, paid for their plastic surgery, put them on a grueling exercise regimen, and gave them dedicated emotional counselling in order to build their self-esteem. The results were astounding. These women were made undeniably beautiful, and they had worked unbelievable hard to achieve it. This is why the most objectively beautiful of them won. The judges would not have dared to reward less. It would have been an insult to everything they had worked for.

Another part of the reason the most beautiful woman nevers wins anymore is that objective female beauty has an unattainable, unreachable quality to a certain kind of person: a scoundrel, the kind who has no real reverence for human values, and has no intention of ever earning them. The kind who sneers at beauty contests but is happy to be a judge in one. Unfortunately, such scoundrels seem to have become the norm these days. They can be seen almost everywhere proclaiming their lack of interest in objective values - in human accomplishment - as if it was a virtue.

The rest of the reason is that until I invented the Bеll Scаlе for measuring female beauty, no one could really say for sure that the wrong contestant had won. Any apparent unfairness could be written off to differences in taste.

But female beauty is an objective phenomenon, as those in the Swan know, and it should be celebrated, enjoyed, and measured. Yes, measured. That's what a beauty contest does. It measures the beauty of its contestants and rewards the one who has the most beauty. After a series of tests and value measurements including a bathing suit competition to measure the girl's poise, grace, and physical attributes, and a question and answer segment to measure the contestant's intelligence and values, beauty contest judges should be as scrupulous as scientists in awarding crowns.

Thе Bеll Scale makes this possible for the first time. And I can think of no better illustration of how to use it than to apply it to last night's Mіss Unіvеrsе pageant.

For those who didn't see it, I'll describe the 3 top costestants. The photos on the Mіss Unіvеrsе site don't really do them justice, but you can have a look if you like. Keep in mind that their top 3 are not mine, with the exception of the eventual winner, Jеnnіfеr Hаwkіns, Mіss Aυstrаlіа.

http://www.missuniverse.com

Mіss Ecυаdоr is the tallest of the three. She is an Amazonian brunette with Brіdgеt Bаrdоt's face and Fаrrаh Fаwcеtt's smile. She moves easily and gracefully on the longest legs in the house, has a full rear end, curvy dip in her lower back, full C-cup breasts, and long and lustrous, almost jet black hair. Her face and smile are cartoon perfect, and her body and movements flawless and elegant. Her eyes are small, dark, mysterious and piercing.

Mіss Cоstа Rica, number 2, is also tall and brunette. Voted most photogenic she has big wide sincere eyes and an even wider Jυlіа Rоbеrts smile. She is the sexiest of the bunch, no doubt, with D-cup breats, and a flawless, curvaceous body that somehow knows how to pause its hypnotic panther-like movements at precisely those moments that are most flattering to her curves. Her evening gown was a long shimmering translucent shift - so well designed that it was easily the most sophisticated look that night, yet so simple that it was also the sexiest. Sex and sophistication together always create great beauty.

Mіss Aυstrаlіа, three, is a happy, graceful, wild-haired blonde with a warm genuine smile, playful eyes, and the supermodel body of Ellе Mаcphеrsоn.

But as lovely as she is, Jеnnіfеr Hаwkіns, Mіss Aυstrаlіа, should not have won. Mіss Ecυаdоr and Mіss Cоstа Rica were both more beautiful. The crown, if beauty had been measured accurately using the Bеll Scаlе, should have gone to Mіss Ecυаdоr.

For full discussion of the workings of the Thе Bеll scale you can read my page on it here, but the simple version is that it is based on the idea that female beauty is the representation of values in a woman, so the woman who represents the most values wins. But because there are more possible values represented in a person's appearance than there are atoms in an apple, they are almost impossible to count - just a few examples are happiness, sexuality, purpose, intelligence, morality, self-esteem, femininity, benevolvence, health, etc, etc. - so I created the Bеll Scаlе to make it simple. Thе Bеll Scale is a handy little pictorial device to help you decide how many values a woman represents.

Here then is the scale:

Thе Bеll Scale is based on loose stereotypes of women and their beauty that have evolved over decades and are in general use around the world today. They are practically universal so the scale can be used and understood by just about everyone.

To measure the beauty of any woman simply ask yourself which of the stereotypes on the scale she most closely resembles. Is she an Amazon or a Lіttlе Bоy? Or is she a perfect Babe? Perhaps she falls in between somewhere, which would make her perhaps a Model/Babe? If so, this would make her more beautiful than a woman who is only a Babe/Lіttlе Gіrl. Get it? Amazon is more beautiful than Model. Model more beautiful than Babe. Babe more than Lіttlе Gіrl. Lіttlе Gіrl more than Lіttlе Bоy.

Obviously, women can vary in the degree of their beauty, both compared to other women and compared to themselves at different times. We don't need a scale to tell us that. But we do need a scale, or some measuring aid, to compare the beauty of different women with the degree of accuracy required in a beauty contest. That is, if it is to be fair, and if we really do want the most beautiful woman to win.

Thе Bеll Scale makes it possible to measure several women at once, accurately. To do it, you must force yourself to place each of the women into different categories as far from each other as possible on the scale. In this case, since there are 3 finalists, so we must place one in the Amazon category, one at the Babe marker, and one at Lіttlе Bоy.

Ask yourself which of the 3 finalists I've described is the Amazon, which one the Model and which one the Lіttlе Bоy. To help clarify, ask yourself things like this: Which of the finalists has NO flaws? Which is the tallest or shortest? Which has the best body? Which looks more intelligent? Which appears to have more noble character? Etc. Have a look at the photos on the Mіss Unіvеrsе site if it will help, but I am counting on most of you still reading this having seen the contest as recently as I have.

It should soon become clear that Mіss Ecυаdоr is the most obvious Amazon of the bunch. She is tall, perfectly formed, and appears happy, intelligent, and reserved - there is more than meets the eye, which we cannot help but assume would be perfect too.

(It's important to remember that beauty is often appearance only. We cannot always know what is in a person's soul, nor do we need to. If a woman appears to possess values, or in some way reminds us of them, then she can be said to be beautiful. Beauty is not a guarantee of character, and it was never meant to be. It is a reminder and motivator towards values, not necessarily the existence of them.)

Next comes Mіss Cоstа Rica as the Babe, by sheer sexiness alone. She is a beautiful woman and she is not afraid to show it. She enjoys her beauty and the attention it gets her. She can be a sex kitten in a bikini or a sophisticated socialite in a transparent gown. In fact, she is a schoolteacher.

3rd comes Jеnnіfеr Hаwkіns, Mіss Aυstrаlіа, as the Lіttlе Bоy, simply because she appears to be having a little more fun than the others, and less concerned with her looks. In fact, her wild blonde hair and fun-loving attitude are very boyish.

Now of course all of these ladies is an Amazon, but in order to differentiate between them, we must look closer, at their unique virtues and unique flaws. It might seem ridiculous to place one of them in the Lіttlе Bоy category but you must remember that this is merely the Lіttlе Bоy end of the Amazon category. We are merely zooming in on the Bеll Scаlе for a closer look in order to get a better measurement.

And please don't make the mistake of assuming the Amazon is the category for warrior-like jungle women. Thе Amаzоn is the woman who represents all conceivable objective human values. She is an idealization. Wоndеr Wоmаn is perhaps the most famous example. She embodies everything good - all values - and nothing bad. The legends of Amazons being warrior women is irrelevent. It is their high character and physical perfection that is important here.

So there you have it. 1st, 2nd and 3rd place as determined by the Bеll Scаlе.

Questions are welcome.

© 2004 by Body in Mind