Dressed as a “Warrior of Light,” she was resplendent in a gold unitard and halo, floating white overdress, brandishing a sword, and framed by astonishing 16-foot feathered wings in the blue and yellow of her country’s flag. Apanasenko channeled the archangel Michael, considered the defender saint of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. (Reports from Russia say that the Hermitage, rumored to have lent the crown, was not involved.) Anna Linnikova, Miss Russia, defiantly wore a costume entitled “The Crown of the Russian Empire,” consisting of a pearl- and jewel-embossed satin minidress topped with a sweeping red velvet cape and a crown - an unabashed advertisement for Russian imperial aggression. Miss Guatemala turned into an entire pyramid temple and Miss USA portrayed the 1969 NASA moon launch, in a 30-pound costume including a metallic spacesuit-style leotard, illuminated headdress and a 3-D replica of the moon hanging above her head.īut all this campy extravagance could not hold off the specter of war. Miss Indonesia was a ship at sea, Miss Netherlands a jaunty Stroopwafel. Miss Belize honored her nation’s rain forest and jaguar reserve by bedecking herself with trailing jungle vegetation, a spotted cat-print leotard and what looked like a miniature jaguar’s head affixed to her lower abdomen. Apanasenko’s “mission to remind us that the war is ongoing.” A resort company was rewarding Miss Ukraine for fun, friendship and for reminding the world of war’s devastations. One of the stranger moments of the show happened when Viktoriia Apanasenko, Miss Ukraine, received the “Spirit of Carnival Award,” presented by Carnival Cruise Lines to the contestant who embodies “fun, friendship, diversity and inclusion.” Christine Duffy, the president of Carnival, lauded Ms. This year, no amount of glitter could distract us from the darker issues just beneath the surface, including climate destruction, human rights abuse, the 2022 suicide of Cheslie Kryst, Miss USA 2019 (and a Miss Universe finalist that year), and, especially, Russia’s war against Ukraine. This year, Miss Universe felt troubling for reasons beyond the objections one might have to scantily clad young women being assessed by so-called experts before an audience of millions. On Saturday, R’Bonney Gabriel, Miss USA, was crowned the 71st Miss Universe, beating out 82 rivals in a three-hour Mardi Gras-themed extravaganza in New Orleans.īy today’s standards, looking for a single ideal of beauty feels antiquated and unenlightened. No one cares if it does something stupid.Ĭorrection, June 17, 2013: This post originally misspelled NeNe Leakes’ first name.Out of all beauty pageants, Miss Universe, which began in 1952, makes the boldest claim: that it can single out one person to represent an idealized vision of womanhood suitable for the entire world (or more grandly, the “universe”). What a dilemma! Clearly, the only solution here is to bring an end to this sordid practice of both beauty pageants and the Monday morning stupidity quarterbacking of them. Then again, all that empathy just went out to a woman who participates and supports the beauty pageant industry, so maybe it’s misplaced. You try coming up with a coherent 30-second sound bite while your brain frantically processes the no-win situation you’re in. On the other hand, if she applauds sisters doing it for themselves, the relatively conservative audience for beauty pageants will turn on her. On one hand, she really can’t go full Fox News and denounce those evil salary-earning women without both offending large numbers of people and also causing the audience to wonder if she aspires for nothing more than trophy-wife status. (At least until conservatives manage to make the latter controversial, too.) Powell was put in an untenable situation here. As ever, pageant contestants know they have to project an image of bland inoffensiveness, which precludes having political opinions beyond a moderate support for sunshine and, in this case, education. Of course, the real problem here is that the question-and-answer period at beauty pageants is set up so the contestants really can’t win.
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