Define Beauty: The CrownBeer guts and tiaras scandalize the catwalk in Maxim Kelly’s playful film for our returning Define Beauty series. The dad-bod has gained a curious cultural status of late, embodying the celebration of ‘real’ masculinity. Kelly’s film throws a spotlight on these everyday bodies within the context of the most retrograde of events—the Miss Universe swimsuit competition. Here, the paunch takes center-stage.The Crown questions the way in which ‘unmaintained’ male bodies—fed on a diet of beer, idleness, and pizza—are celebrated with a wink, rather than the judgment often reserved for maternal bodies."I was drawn to the idea of the dad-bod because I’m interested in subjects that have conflicting implications," says Kelly. "The dad-bod reinforces gender stereotypes, but it also turns the tables on them. It gives women a platform to speak in public about men in the way men have often talked about women."
