BanderasNews
Puerto Vallarta Weather Report
Welcome to Puerto Vallarta's liveliest website!
Contact UsSearch
Why Vallarta?Vallarta WeddingsRestaurantsWeatherPhoto GalleriesToday's EventsMaps
 NEWS/HOME
 EDITORIALS
 AT ISSUE
 OPINIONS
 ENVIRONMENTAL
 LETTERS
 WRITERS' RESOURCES
 ENTERTAINMENT
 VALLARTA LIVING
 PV REAL ESTATE
 TRAVEL / OUTDOORS
 HEALTH / BEAUTY
 SPORTS
 DAZED & CONFUSED
 PHOTOGRAPHY
 CLASSIFIEDS
 READERS CORNER
 BANDERAS NEWS TEAM
Sign up NOW!

Free Newsletter!
Puerto Vallarta News NetworkEditorials | Issues | April 2007 

If Looks Could Kill
email this pageprint this pageemail usAlice Wyllie - scotsman.com


Miss Mexico, Rosa Maria Ojeda, poses with a floor-length dress, belted by bullets and accented by sketches of hangings during Mexico's Roman Catholic uprising in the 1920s during a presentation in the city of Tampico, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2006. The dress has outraged Mexicans who said it was inappropriate for the world's most important beauty contest. (Milenio Diario de Tampico/Julio Nevero)
Beauty pageants have long been a controversial topic, criticised as shallow and superficial, opportunities to objectify and exploit women. However, despite being seen as desperately old-fashioned, they have a strange habit of making headlines.

Last week, after a public outcry, Rosa Maria Ojeda - Miss Mexico, to use her official title - was forced to redesign her Miss Universe pageant dress, not because of a shockingly high hemline or a daringly low neckline, but because it was deemed "too violent".

The billowing, floor-length gown is painted with images of hangings and firing squads from Mexico's Catholic uprising between 1926 and 1929, during which tens of thousands of people died. The controversial garment comes with accessories including rosaries hanging from a bullet-studded belt, a crucifix necklace and a wide-brimmed sombrero.

The dress, says its designer, Maria del Rayo Macias, is a reference to the colourful, if blood-soaked, history of the country. "We are descendants of Cristeros. Whether we like it or not, it's a part of who we are," she told Mexican newspaper La Jornada.

"We wanted a dress that made you think of Mexico," adds Hector Terrones, who served on the selection committee that chose the dress from among those submitted by 30 different designers.

Critics have argued that the designer is merely glamorising violence. The three-year uprising remains a painful chapter in Mexican history, and many feel that a beauty pageant is an inappropriate setting in which to parade it. "It would be like Miss USA wearing a dress showing images of the Ku Klux Klan in the Deep South, with their white hoods and burning crosses," said Jorge Camil, a columnist for La Jornada.

But the evening-gown scandal that has gripped Mexico is simply the latest in a litany of beauty queen controversies.

Celebrity Big Brother contestant Danielle Lloyd was crowned Miss Great Britain 2006, but reigned for just nine months before being dethroned when it was revealed that she had begun a romantic relationship with one of the contest's judges, footballer Teddy Sheringham, prior to the competition.

And the US was gripped last year when Tara Conner, the winner of Miss USA 2006 was very nearly stripped of her title by Donald Trump, who owns the rights to the Miss Universe contest. Conner, 21, had been spotted dancing and drinking in bars, and there were rumours of drug abuse and "scandalous behaviour", prompting a press conference at which Trump, accompanied by a tearful Conner, explained that he had "forgiven her" for her behaviour.

Beauty queen controversies range from the utterly ridiculous (in 2005, Miss Trinidad was stripped of her title by organisers because she had put on weight) to the extremely frightening, as in the 2002 Miss World contest, which was originally held in Nigeria. Some 200 people were killed in mass riots and a female journalist had a fatwa issued against her, causing the organisers to move the event to London.

The Miss World motto is "Beauty with a purpose", although what that purpose is remains largely unclear.

In 1993 Miss Lebanon, Ghada Turk, was accused of "collaborating with the enemy" after she was seen smiling with Miss Israel. On her return to Beirut, she was interrogated for two hours before being released without charge.

The world of beauty pageants is also notorious for its tales of backstabbing and sabotage among the contestants, but during Miss World 2006, it was the organisers who were accused of rigging the contest, held in Moscow. The title was awarded to Miss Costa Rica, Andrea Bermudez-Romero, but no sooner was she crowned than the show's producer leapt on to the stage, announcing that there had been a mistake. He swiftly whisked the crown from the head of the bemused girl, and placed it atop the perfectly blow-dried mane of Miss Russia, who also happened to be married to her country's 100th richest man.

The Miss World motto is "Beauty with a purpose", although what that purpose is remains largely unclear. The women taking part in such contests appear blissfully ignorant or unconcerned about any accusations of exploitation, and choose to embrace a more positive approach.

Amanda McNeilage, a 21-year-old dancer from Greenock, explains her motivation for taking part in the Miss Great Britain competition finals, to be held next month.

"I think people are attracted to the glamour side of things," she says. "I don't feel like I'm being exploited. I understand that there are some feminists who feel that way, but I feel like taking part is a confidence-builder. It gives me more self-confidence and it makes me feel good about the way I look."

That a woman should have a ribbon pinned on her for "the way I look", much like a prize pig at a county fair, is exactly why beauty pageants remain controversial - in 1968, an American feminist group illustrated this fact by crowning a sheep "Miss America".

It may seem laughable that a beauty queen's dress is the subject of political debate, but our fascination with these pageants of pulchritude and their contestants is not waning - pageants are watched by around one billion people around the world each year.

An estimated 700,000 contests are held annually in the US alone, and Miss World is now franchised in more than 140 countries. It is one of the biggest contests of its kind, alongside Miss Universe, Miss International and Miss Earth. (What the differences are between the four titles is anyone's guess.)

With such a huge global audience, these contests remain a source of media fascination. While many westerners are busy criticising the acceptance of the burqa as being a backwards step for 21st-century women, this global obsession with comparing women on looks - and largely for male titillation - goes relatively unchallenged.

The world remains captivated, revelling in the opportunity to praise and promote a woman for how well a bikini hugs her curves. Quite literally, in fact: before she became a star, actress Raquel Welch was once awarded a prize for "best contours" in a beauty pageant. Other famous former beauty queens include Michelle Pfeiffer, Oprah Winfrey, Sharon Stone and Halle Berry.

"It doesn't surprise me at all that beauty pageants are as popular as ever in 2007," says Dr Kerri McPherson, a chartered health psychologist based at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh.

"From an evolutionary perspective, there is evidence that [physical] attraction is one of the aspects that we use to judge people. I think that these contests are popular because they allow us to gain feedback on our own appearance, by dictating to us what is beautiful."



In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving
the included information for research and educational purposes • m3 © 2008 BanderasNews ® all rights reserved • carpe aestus