So it says on the hunky body of Mr. Mexico 2014, José Pablo Minor:
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(shown here in a body-display pose that emphasizes his torso, makes a V that points to his crotch, and stops just short of exposing that crotch. A cock-tease shot, plus a darkly handsome face.)
Photo passed on to me by Mike McKinley, an appreciator of hunky young Hispanic men, along with a story about Minor from the Mexican style magazine EstiloDF, where we learn that Minor came in third in the contest:
Mr. World 2014 nombró al mexicano José Pablo Minor, el tercer hombre más guapo del mundo. ¡Conócelo!
El pasado fin de semana finalizó la búsqueda del hombre más guapo del mundo Mr. World 2014, donde el primer lugar lo consiguió el danés Dane Nicklas Pedersen, el segundo lugar el nigeriano Emmanuel Ifeanyi y en tercer lugar quedó nuestro mexicano José Pablo Minor.
José Pablo tiene 23 años y durante el concurso superó las cinco etapas: talento, deportes, multimedia, moda, estilo y un reto extremo.
The Mr. World competition aims to pick, in each year, not just the most handsome man in the world (el hombre más guapo del mundo), choosing from the Mr. World winners in specific countries that year, but in fact to pick the most desirable man in the world. (It’s framed as appealing to women, but of course it has a huge gay following.)
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The contest is associated with the Miss World competition, but there are interesting differences in the structure of the two events (more on that below).
From the contest’s website (preserving its use of upper case):
Unlike conventional Male “Beauty Pageants”, Mr World is a 2-3 week competition designed to test the candidates in a variety of ways through a series of challenge events, interviews and a final stage show. These challenges test every aspect deemed necessary to be “The World’s Most Desirable Man.”
FIVE challenge events take place: Fashion & Style, the Extreme Challenge [“punishing assault courses”], the Multi-Media Award [“With each contestant given online portals using their official social media platforms, they were tasked to create an impression of themselves and their time at Mr World in the most inventive and exciting ways possible”], the Sports Challenge [several sports, individual and team] & the Talent Competition. Each one of these Challenges has a winner, who takes his place in the Final TOP TEN of the competition. There are also collective points earned through the team based elements of the challenges, with the contestants split into four teams throughout the event.
The Winner is then selected by the panel of judges who weigh up the performances of each candidate before hearing from them on stage as to why they want to win Mr World, and what it would mean to them.
Similarities to women’s contests: the formal dress component, the talent contest, the sexualized display of the body (swimsuits for women, shirtlessness and other displays in dance numbers for men). One set of contestants en masse:
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For the women, the emphasis is on femininity, for the men, masculinity, especially in the sports competitions (note the emphasis on that male ideal, teamwork) and in displays of physical toughness and endurance (in the assault courses and a series of elimination races). They might be male models and actors, for the most part, who spend a fair part of the competition looking gorgeous, but they’re also supposed to demonstrate toughness and athletic prowess.
The contest strives to offer a diversity of physical types, and it’s fairly successful at that, but it’s notably poor in black men. In any case, this year’s winner was a blond Dane, Nicklas Pedersen:
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And the runner-up was a Nigerian, Ikubese Emmanuel Ifeanyi (sometimes identified as Ikubese Emmanuel, sometimes as Emmanuel Ifeanyi):
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Not in the three finalists, but still entertaining to look at, was the 2014 entry from the Philippines, Vince Ferraren:
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Note: the other Mr. World. Quite separate from this pageant of masculine desirability, there are bodybuilding competitions Mr. World and Mr. America. From Wikipedia:
AAU Mr. World was a bodybuilding competition started by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). It was first held in 1950s.
In the mid-1940s, Joe and Ben Weider started the IFBB [International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness] as an alternative to the AAU. They held their opposing contest the IFBB Mr. America in 1949 and then from 1959 onwards. The AAU voted to discontinue holding bodybuilding competitions in 1999.
The IFBB sponsors bodybuilding competitions for both men and women, and distinguishes two kinds of competitions, Physique and Pro. Here’s a Pro:
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Bonus: Sazon Mas Guapo. Back to el más guapo José Pablo Minor (see #1). Following up on him led me to ads for a spice blend:
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Zesty, bold, and unexpected — and that’s just the included fake mustache. Sazon Mas Guapo ($10) is a spice blend that falls somewhere between a dry rub and seasoning salt, and promises to make “any chef seem more handsome,” while also making your food “more better.” (link)
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