Mekayla Diehl

Mekayla Diehl
Beauty pageant titleholder
Born 1988 (age 27–28)
Elkhart, Indiana
Title(s) Miss Indiana USA 2014
Major
competition(s)		 Miss USA 2014

Mekayla Diehl is Miss Indiana USA for 2014 and made it to the top 20 at Miss USA 2014.

Early life

Diehl was born in Elkhart, Indiana in 1988.[1] She is descended from the Ojibwe tribe, a member of the Ontario-based Zhiibaahaasing First Nation through her mother.[1] At eight years of age she was sexually molested by a family friend, but has forgiven the man.[2][3] During her childhood, both of her parents had drug problems, but she had the support of her grandmother and other community members. Her grandmother was her strongest support system, comforting her and explaining that God would help them through this rough time. She was eventually adopted.[1][2][3]

Career

Mekayla graduated in 2011 from Albion College, MI with a bachelor's degree of liberal arts in mass communication.[3] She won the 2014 Miss Indiana USA pageant qualifying for the Miss USA pageant and subsequently finishing in the top 20.<ref name="today.[4] She is the first contestant of Native American descent to win Miss Indiana USA and the first to represent Indiana for the Miss USA 2014 pageant.[1] During an interview regarding her being molested she stated that she has forgiven her abuser in order to move forward with her own life. "I don't know where that man is," Diehl said.

I could care less if I ever see him again. However, I have learned to forgive him so that I can move on. Forgiveness and moving on are two things that are a must in our family. I hope [young girls] can look at me and see that yes, I am a pageant girl, but I had a dream and I worked very, very hard for it. And I didn't let my past define me.[2]

Diehl is a strong advocate for child abuse awareness.

Diehl, who is 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 m) tall, has been praised for being a "normal", healthy size 4 and for not being skinny, a common stereotype of beauty pageant contestants.[4] Nia Sanchez, the winner of the 2014 pageant, stated that Diehl is no different than the other athletic pageant contestants she competed against. "I felt like this year we had a really healthy class of girls, and that’s what the pageant is about, not being skinny and having the clothes fall off your bones, but being fit, healthy and active. And Mekayla is," she said. "We were at the gym working out together. She was telling me how she does different sports. We all do." Diehl has ignited a wave of positivity encouraging women to be healthy and not go to extremes of having unhealthy habits to be skinny.[5]

Though Deihl is celebrated for being a healthy role model encouraging young women to be active and healthy, a few critics created backlash by stating that even though she represents something new she isn't normal.[6] Their main argument was that the average American woman, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is 5-foot-3 and 166 pounds with a size 12 or 14 waist size and has a BMI of 33.[6] However, the average American woman is 23 pounds overweight.[7][8]

Miss Indiana USA 2014, Mekayla Diehl, is the face of the Yummie by Heather Thomson

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 ICTMN (2014). "Miss Indiana USA Mekayla Diehl Is 'Normal' ... and Native American!". Indian Country Today Media Network. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  2. 1 2 3 Sami K. Martin (2014). "Mekayla Diehl Forgives Man Who Molested Her as Child: 'Forgiveness and Moving On' Important to Miss Indiana's Family". Christian Post. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  3. 1 2 3 "Mekayla Diehl Bio". Miss Universe Pageant. 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  4. 1 2 "Is size-4 Miss Indiana the new 'normal'? Miss USA weighs in on the debate". Today Show. 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  5. ↑ Will Higgins (2014). "Miss Indiana Mekayla Diehl: 'I'm OK with 'normal". INDY Star. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  6. 1 2 Amy Hubbard (2014). "Miss Indiana Mekayla Diehl's body is not 'normal' or 'average'". LA Times. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
  7. ↑ Katherine Bowers (2010). "Can You Be Healthy at Any Size?". Women's Magazine. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
  8. ↑ Sherry Rauh (2014). "Is Fat the New Normal? A rise in average body weight may be changing how we see ourselves". WebMD. Retrieved 2014-06-13.

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Emily Hart		 Miss Indiana USA
2014 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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