Chinese Beauty Pageant Rule #1: Nipples Must Be At Least 7.8 Inches Apart

A Chinese beauty contest has come up with a few new rules. Number one, contestants’ nipples must be spaced at least 7.8 inches (20 cm) apart. Rule number two, said perfectly-spaced nipples must match perfectly-spaced pupils, which can’t be more than 46 percent of the distance between each eye and ear. Confused? You’re not alone.

The new guidelines, set in place by a Chinese university’s beauty pageant staff, sparked controversy when they announced the new rule on Friday.

“Why more than 20 centimeters? I honestly don’t know who came up with these figures,” said a user on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.

“How can beauty standards include breast distance? Do they take women as toys?” Judging women by such rigid criteria is so ‘out’!” said TV personality Yang Lan, commenting on her blog.

Pageant staff said that they came up with the criteria based on “traditional Chinese and modern Western standards of beauty.” Staff added that contest organizers conducted Internet research to determine said criteria.

In addition to the new nipple measurement are the traditional chest, waist, and hip measurements. Another new rule states that contestants’ pupils should be 46 percent of the “distance between their pupil and their ear.”

“We want the winners to be extremely good-looking,” a staff member noted. “We have based our criteria both on the traditional Chinese and more modern Western aesthetic values.” When asked, however, staff could not explain how ancient Chinese culture defined beautiful breasts.

Gong Qi, a fourth-year student from Beijing Contemporary Music Academy who was the runner-up in a nationwide pageant last year, called this contest “ridiculous.”

“I don’t see any point in measuring the nipple distance, or setting up standards for body proportions. I would never accept such a rude requirement,” she said.

The new guidelines sparked a variety of online comments, most from outraged women. One commenter “asked how men might feel if a contest required them to measure their private parts.”

The contest’s website began accepting applications for the pageant on Wednesday. The pageant is targeting about 65 colleges in Hubei. Only a handful of applications have been submitted.

Applicants are required to offer proof that their measurements meet the new guidelines.

“I don’t think any normal student from my school would take part in such a contest. They would be ridiculed and laughed at,” said Yin Li, a teacher from Wuhan University.

Readers: Do you think this new criteria is valid? Or slightly ridiculous?