Global Beauty - Jezebel Comments

Global Beauty

BlindKarma — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:29:02 EDT

I'm all for it. If you can shine light on something that gets a 30 sound bit then forgotten AND if can help these ladies feel/be treated like a women for a day where's the harm in a pageant?

BlindKarma

Global Beauty

okay12345 — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 18:46:15 EDT

I have NOTHING bad to say about this. I think a pageant is a solid, defiant response to the absurdity of land mines. Here's their manifesto:

[www.miss-landmine.org]
* Female pride and empowerment.

* Disabled pride and empowerment.

* Global and local landmine awareness and information.

* Challenge inferiority and/or guilt complexes that hinder creativity-
historical, cultural, social, personal, African, European.

* Question established concepts of physical perfection.

* Challenge old and ingrown concepts of cultural cooperation.

* Celebrate true beauty.

* Replace the passive term 'Victim' with the active term 'Survivor'

I'm with aubonpam too, hoping this doesn't get treated as "odd news." Let these women do their thing with dignity, because they are brave as FUCK.

okay12345

Global Beauty

sybann — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:06:58 EDT

@filleunique: Too soon?

sybann

Global Beauty

rhinestonedarling — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:46:22 EDT

@laly: It's actually really awesome to hear your perspective.

rhinestonedarling

Global Beauty

filleunique — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:24:12 EDT

@sybann: Yeah, I so suspect the International Amputee PR Co Ltd has put this together to try and restore their damaged reputation.

filleunique

Global Beauty

sybann — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:42:00 EDT

They asked Heather Mills to emcee but she wanted 50 million...

sybann

Global Beauty

aubonpam — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:52:20 EDT

See, what bothers me is not so much that it's a beauty pageant as much as it seems like something that would be relegated to the "odd news" section of yahoo, talked about on stupid morning radio shows, and laughed at by the half-heads on Fark. I think people might just miss the point entirely and laugh and then forget about it, like they always do.

aubonpam

Global Beauty

Rbkah — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:03:19 EDT

I'm not normally for beauty pageants, and I read about this last year. But the victims were traumatized about losing their limbs and they wanted to do it. Has anyone seen the site? It's not porn. I actually cried when I read it.

Rbkah

Global Beauty

BrutallyHonestBabes — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:44:35 EDT

Can I enter the "I hate my day job cause I'm really an artiste pageant"? I want a pretty dress and a sash, dammit. I'm gonna kick ya'lls asses in the talent portion! I learned how to pose from Tyra.

BrutallyHonestBabes

Global Beauty

Katxyz — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:44:23 EDT

@ineffable.me:

I seriously doubt the women aren't all pretty. It's a pageant. They selected ONE woman out of thousands in each province. They didn't set up a similar contest for injured children, or for men. They didn't make it a talent contest. It seems obvious that this contest is probably about female beauty, and I doubt any province wanted to send the women whose face was the body part maimed to represent them.

Katxyz

Global Beauty

laly — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:44:09 EDT

As someone who lives in Angola- no, really I do- let me tell you that if this pagaent can bring attention to the MILLIONS of women around here who are survivors of land mines, then great. There are so many (men, women, children) that everyone has become desensitized.

Besides, look at the website: there is no way that these real women are your "typical" constestants. Angolans are really into pagaents (there's even a Mr. Angola), so I think it's great that it's being used to remind people about the problem that is still a big threat.
[www.miss-landmine.org]

laly

Global Beauty

gra — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:39:00 EDT

Initially I thought this seemed kind of exploitive, but after reading the BBC article, I'm on board. I'm not a fan of beauty pagents, but they do grab people's attention and land mines and their victims deserve attention.

These women probably don't have many employment options due to their land mine related injuries. Most people in Angola can not afford artifical limbs.

gra

Global Beauty

ExtensionOfBob — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:26:46 EDT

@reader123: Angola mine victim porn?

You also make a good point.

My thing is, who's going to remember this tomorrow? I mean, I hope it catches the attention of someone with money and/or power to help out...to actually get people worried about this problem...otherwise, we'll all giggle over the headline today, and tomorrow be too busy surfing the websites of the newest unveiled Spitzer prostitute.

ExtensionOfBob

Global Beauty

FromTheFuture — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:23:49 EDT

reading comprehension problems: I read the last sentence too quickly as "All of the contestants have been maimed by mimes." hmm.

FromTheFuture

Global Beauty

amowls — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:01:59 EDT

Every female has the right to be objectified!

amowls

Global Beauty

vegemitekid — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:49:52 EDT

@ineffable.me: Not at all, but it is a pageant. *slinking back into corner now.....*

vegemitekid

Global Beauty

reader123 — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:47:35 EDT

@mollsmolls: Yeah, it's a tough one. Is telling a women she's beautiful empowering or disenfranchising? I think it can be both.

reader123

Global Beauty

ineffable.me — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:45:07 EDT

@vegemitekid: and NO, I'm not saying that all women in Angola or other African countries are ugly if that's what you're implying by that.

ineffable.me

Global Beauty

vegemitekid — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:39:10 EDT

@ineffable.me: Mmmm, couldn't possibly be any beautiful women there.....

vegemitekid

Global Beauty

mollsmolls — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:34:34 EDT

@reader123:
I agree (I think.) As someone here already said, I'm vexed. I kept seeing this story on the BBC homepage and didn't want to read it for fear of what it would actually be about. I never thought it would be an actual pageant.

mollsmolls

Global Beauty

Triphena — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:32:20 EDT

@ineffable.me: Well said.

Triphena

Global Beauty

LaComtesse — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:28:20 EDT

@ineffable.me: Color me convinced. Very salient point.

@OneMartiniAway: There's a Miss Diabetic Amputee? You learn something new every day. How old is your cousin?

LaComtesse

Global Beauty

♥ dosido Hussein McKamy☮ — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:27:21 EDT

This vexes me. I am vexed. Why not give them microloans and help them start businesses? That's a lot more empowering than twirling batons and prancing around in swimsuits.

♥ dosido Hussein McKamy☮

Global Beauty

OneMartiniAway — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:22:12 EDT

Weird. I have a cousin who was crowned Miss Diabetic Amputee last October!

OneMartiniAway

Global Beauty

ineffable.me — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:18:51 EDT

@vegemitekid: well i doubt its a beauty pageant for the large model contingency that lives in a mine-ridden region of Angola...

@eeva: exactly.

@LaComtesse: i think it'll still be a good thing. because if it's one woman from each province then that woman will probably become a role model of sorts in each province and will inspire other women and such.

ineffable.me

Global Beauty

Cuteasabutton...does not suffer fools gladly. — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:18:06 EDT

I want to say this is a good thing because it is at least drawig attention to the cause. But why is everything about looks in the end?

Cuteasabutton...does not suffer fools gladly.

Global Beauty

LaComtesse — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:16:25 EDT

@ineffable.me: Def. see your point, but unless they changed the rules, won't all but one... well... lose? Losing takes its toll on self esteem even for beauty queens. Like "Yes, you're beautiful, but not quite beautiful enough..." (or so I've heard the inner monologue goes...)

LaComtesse

Global Beauty

reader123 — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:14:33 EDT

Lots of valid points, but in a country where the women are already competing for a male provider is there a better way to quickly, inexpensively raise awareness about the land mines while telling this society that these victims are still desirable?

reader123

Global Beauty

Eeva — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:14:22 EDT

@ineffable.me: I agree. Like, by all means let's get rid of beauty pageants but let's not start with the ones that at least have a valid message and a reason beyond "ooh! beautiful women look hot in swimsuits!".

Eeva

Global Beauty

vegemitekid — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:13:06 EDT

@ineffable.me: Perhaps, but I seriously doubt it.

vegemitekid

Global Beauty

ineffable.me — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:10:28 EDT

@vegemitekid: maybe they're ugly! you dont know!

ineffable.me

Global Beauty

MapleJam — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:09:57 EDT

@Leiakat: That's what I was thinking as well. One might disagree with the pageant aspect, but it certainly got people thinking about land mine victims in Angola, something that I'm sure doesn't cross many people's minds around the world.

MapleJam

Global Beauty

Intern Kevin — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:08:31 EDT

@zivah: You know, this almost IS human trafficking, isn't it?

Intern Kevin

Global Beauty

Leiakat — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:07:45 EDT

Honestly, how many people knew about the civil war in Angola?

@ineffable.me: Very true. Also hopefully by bring these women together they can see they are not alone and can be just as successful and beautiful, if not more, than people that haven't suffered this.

Leiakat

Global Beauty

zivah — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:07:41 EDT

@J.D.Regent: Yeah, right?

Long, soul-crushing prison terms in siberia? The solution? Pageants!!

Landmines? How horrible. The solution? Pageants?

What's next - victims of genocide? FGM? Human trafficking?

zivah

Global Beauty

Intern Kevin — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:06:27 EDT

@DorothyZbornak: ahem.. program.

Good luck running for Ms. San Antonio Womens Correctional Facility Pagent!

Intern Kevin

Global Beauty

vegemitekid — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:05:17 EDT

No one ever wants to help the ugly ones :( This may raise awareness, but really, for how long? Perhaps money would be better spent improving these peoples' lives with education and better conditions, than parading them around on stage for a few weeks.

vegemitekid

Global Beauty

CorporateTool — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:05:13 EDT

@zivah: I was just thinking the same thing. It's nice that we're drawing attention, but does it have to be about beauty?

CorporateTool

Global Beauty

DorothyZbornak — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:05:02 EDT

It's not a beauty contest, it's a scholarship competition!

DorothyZbornak

Global Beauty

J.D.Regent — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:03:25 EDT

i mean, i'm fine with this obvs but it does seem like pagaents are used to address a myriad of social ills.

J.D.Regent

Global Beauty

zivah — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:02:12 EDT

@LaComtesse: Yay. Me too. It is my desktop picture, bequeathed to me by the girl who had my job before I did. Who was apparently hilarious.

zivah

Global Beauty

ineffable.me — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:01:44 EDT

It's fucked up by our feminist western ideals or whatever but if youre in a country where a lot of women are missing body parts and they are ostracized and made to feel like they are less than other women, I dont see the problem in people seeing that you can still be beautiful while missing a leg or 2.

ineffable.me

Global Beauty

LaComtesse — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:59:38 EDT

@zivah: your avatar makes me smile whenever I see it.

LaComtesse

Global Beauty

LaComtesse — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:59:18 EDT

Because we can't care about landmine victims unless they're also pretty. *sigh* Well intentioned, but just so deeply rooted in fucked up Western culture it makes my brain hurt.

LaComtesse

Global Beauty

blackbirdfly — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:59:14 EDT

Yeah, raising awareness = good. I'm not too keen on the pageant idea. But I guess it would be okay if the girls in it were really excited about it and wanted to do it.

blackbirdfly

Global Beauty

pferde_schwanz — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:56:57 EDT

retardedness

pferde_schwanz

Global Beauty

Intern Kevin — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:53:48 EDT

This is a very effective way to raise awareness. Nothing says 'help me' more than a pretty girl who is missing a leg.

Intern Kevin

Global Beauty

zivah — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:53:24 EDT

Blah blah blah for a good cause blah blah. Why can't we somehow figure out a method of drawing attention to good causes without making women "compete" in pageants?

Does it seem like pageants, instead of receding into history, are around with more bite than ever?

zivah