Stephanie Naumoska was a contestant in the Miss Universe-Australia pageant. Her very thin figure generated controversy. At 5-foot-11, she reportedly weighed in at 108 pounds. One look at her and I knew that I needed to discuss her looks, but not because of her thinness.
Some people make much of the thinness of high-fashion models. Stephanie Naumoska, shown above, is thinner than many well-ranked high-fashion models, but what are the odds of her working as a well-ranked fashion model? Low, even though she has the height, the thinness and is 19-years-old, i.e., not too old. Why? Because she looks like a very thin or anorexic woman rather than one who approaches the looks of an adolescent boy. I searched for what kind of modeling she does, and bingo! I ran into her profile at model mayhem, where she is soliciting modeling work. Well-ranked fashion models don’t solicit work; they are represented by a model management agency. Stephanie has done fashion modeling, but has not attained a respectable rank among high-fashion models.
Stephanie Naumoska is a reminder that height, thinness and youth are not enough for success at high-fashion modeling. There has to be a level of masculinization that makes the teenage girl approach the looks of boys in their early adolescence, and the main shortcoming in the case of Stephanie Naumoska is her physique.
Other issues associated with the Stephanie Naumoska case are basically useless as far as I am concerned. Some people would rather have a woman as thin as her banned from beauty pageants, but what is the problem if she is naturally thin? If many contestants have a healthy bodyweight and there are some thin contestants, it is not a problem as far as affecting impressionable girls goes.
Another issue that came up was a comment by Miss Universe Australia Pageant director Deborah Miller, who said that Stephanie’s Macedonian heritage accounted for her thin build. Some people responded by saying that there is no such thing as a Macedonian build. However, anthropological literature that has been out of vogue for a while because of political reasons has described an ethnic group in Europe that was built slightly (slender bones, smaller muscles), more likely found in the southern parts, had dark features but faces that were European and often with fine facial features. They have been described as Mediterranean-type Europeans. They were not exactly the same as many of the similarly dark people in the Middle East and southern Europe today that are often lacking in European fine facial features. Stephanie Naumoska could very well have been taken from this Mediterranean-type European ethnic group, and her 15.1 BMI (body mass index) should be considered the health-wise equivalent of a 17.1 BMI among European populations in the northern regions.
People should not assume that the same BMI cutoffs apply to all ethnic groups. Stephanie Naumoska appears to be a reasonably healthy, naturally thin woman who eats in accordance with desire.
Here is a short video showing Stephanie as a contestant in the Miss Universe Australia pageant and some of the controversy Stephanie generated.
Stephanie Naumoska video