Richard Solano: Body Beautiful

Last year, I started to research a piece on male beauty contests.  Although not very popular in North America, they continue to be a big draw in some parts of Asia and South America.  There are SOOO many contests in fact, I get a little overwhelmed, and put the piece on hold.  There are Mister Mexico, Mister Philippines, Mister so many countries.  Mister Beautiful Body, Miter Sexy Body, Mister Bikini Body and so many more!

One of the contestants who really stood out for me was Richard Solano. I started to find so many images, that I wanted to share a few favorites.  What struck me about these contests was how obvious they were about what they were about.  Sexy bodies!  Although the US, mostly female contests to me, remain about hot bodies, they pretend for some odd reason to be about brains and education. 

I understand this to a point, especially for women, who've been so historically objectified.  But... if you're going to call it a beauty pageant, don't try to mask it, or pretend it's something else.  If you want to have an educational based, or talent based contest, then maybe do something differently. 

I'm not championing beauty pageant's, I'm actually not a fan.  That being said, I would certainly check out a Mister Sexy Body if it aired...  The titles of the male contests tell you everything you need to know, they are about hot male bodies, wearing only skimpy bikini's.  As much as I'm not a huge fan of beauty pageants, I must admit, there's something about a # pinned to Richard's tiny briefs.  As you can see from the list below, Richard's been apart (winner and runner-up) of many competitions over the 2010's.

RICHARD SOLANO

Bathala Nauti ‘n Wild Bikini Runway 2013 Grand Winner

Heatwave 2013 (Season 6) Grand Winner

Mister Philippine Bodies 2014 First Runner Up

Sta. Lucia’s Mister Sexy Body 2013 First Runner Up

Mister Asia Pacific Bikini Summit (Year 3) 2012 Second Runner Up

Mister Subic Bodies 2013 Fourth Runner Up (Also Mister Sexy Body)

Mister Sexy Body 2014 Candidate

Barangay Hunks Bikini Open 2014 Candidate

Hataw Superbodies 2012 (Year 7) Candidate