miss iraq
It’s almost December, the month in which girls everywhere dress up in sweatpants and baggy T-shirts and spend entire seconds doing their hair before heading to the living room to watch dream girls in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
But what if there were no VS Angels, no Miss America — and what if your country was missing from Miss Universe year after year?
In a strongly conservative country like Iraq, that’s a given. There hasn’t been a Miss Iraq pageant since 1972 – that’s more than 40 years since women were allowed to represent their country dressed in westernized pageant attire.
Americans accept fashion shows as a part of pop culture. They’re competitions fueled by our idolization of the genetically blessed. But with our models showing nearly everything, it’s hard to imagine that in many places the standard of the ideal woman is someone covered from head to toe. And entering a beauty pageant means facing death threats from extremists.
In Iraq, it’s a reality that the organizers of the first Miss Iraq pageant in this century are learning to overcome. So far, at least 15 contestants have withdrawn from the competition because of resistance from extremists, with two having received death threats.
Despite having to push its televised contest finale from October to December, the pageant moves forward.
Senan Kamel, the spokesman and judge for the pageant, told Reuters, “There are many indications that Iraq is finished, but such contests give hope that life in Iraq goes on.”
They’re hoping to change the face of a country marred by war and terrorism, says Al Mada, the media group organizing the pageant. Humam Al-Obaidi, the group’s sales director, said a Miss Iraq pageant would not only benefit Iraqis, but also give a new image to a battered county.
“Our message is to show the world that … we are a civilized country,” he told NBC News. He said the winner will “carry the message to the world that we love life. … She will talk about how great Iraq and Iraqis are, and how Iraqis are struggling to stay alive.”
To reduce backlash, they’ve removed the swimsuit category, instead using evening gowns to show off the contestants’ figures. There is also a ban on headscarves to ensure Miss Iraq will be able to move on to larger events. Although pageants have been held since the last Miss Iraq, none have been up to international standards.
The last winner, Wijdan Burhan al-Deen, also participated in Miss Universe the same year, 1972.
“If we don’t stick to the standards, we will not receive approval to participate in international competitions, but for sure we are not at the stage of wearing bathing suits,” Kamel said.
But despite one television station’s assertion that a beauty content would “create a base culture while our people face the danger of terrorism,” several of the contestants believe a cultural event like this is just what their bruised society needs.
High schooler Hamsa Khalid told Reuters that if she were to be Miss Iraq she would hope to be a symbol of “peace.”
College economics major Shaima Qassem Abdulrahman thinks the pageant will be therapeutic.
“After all we have been through, we need to do something new that would reform our society,” the 20-year-old told NBC News. “Such activities can rebuild what has been destroyed.”
