Contestants of an international beauty contest in 2019  Photo:Xinhua

A pageant to select Miss Shaanxi 2021 recently became a hot topic on Chinese social media. While people's focus was obviously on the beauties on stage, the "beauty" of the contestants was nevertheless particularly meaningful this year as they challenged controversial standards and won over netizens' hearts by just being "ordinary and confident." 

A screenshot of seven contestants in bikinis on stage at the event went viral on Chinese media review platform Douban. What captured netizens' attention was that the women's curvaceous bodies were noticeably one size larger than those of traditional Barbie-like beauty pageant contestants. 

A pageant to select Miss Shaanxi 2021 Photo: Sina Weibo

While some people made ignorant comments such as calling them walking terracotta statues, or questioning whether or not the event was serious about finding a beautiful Miss Shaanxi, they were ultimately in the minority. Most netizens expressed their support for the girls, saying they were happy to watch a beauty contest feature increased diversity especially when it comes to traditional concepts of beauty in China such as "thin," "fair skin" and "baby-like." 

"Yes, I would vote for them. It was more their confidence to show themselves that made me feel that they are beautiful rather than their physical features," Nick, 34, told the Global Times after looking at a photo of some of the beauty contestants.  

"Netizens' changing opinion on what makes a woman beautiful is attributed to both cultural and social influences. Culturally speaking, there are more people today with international experience, especially young netizens. The way they see how beauty is defined in other cultures inspires them to embrace diversity. Socially speaking, the growing feminist voice in today's Chinese society has become a powerful force that defends against those who try to cause chaos over gender issues," a feminism expert in Beijing told the Global Times on Tuesday.    

The "manga waist challenge" recently ignited controversy after actress Yang Mi posted it on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo along with a photo to show off her thin waist. The challenge was overloaded by criticism as netizens protested against the trend and demanded an apology from her.  

While some netizens cheered the new faces at the beauty contest, some netizens called for such competitions to be banned as they feel they have a negative impact on women.  

"Beauty pageants are very wrong because they promote a very singular and shallow way of seeing the value of a woman. When a woman is judged beautiful because of physical features like being skinny and having fair skins, those are consequently become the standards of "beauty." I feel like it is another way to bully women," Yu, an anti-beauty pageant activist in Beijing, told the Global Times on Tuesday.