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Miss World turned 50 in 2001. Born in 1951, the brainchild of Eric Morley, a former bingo hall manager it was intended to be a one-off event as part of the Festival of Britain celebrations. Its original name was the 'Festival Bikini Contest' but the British press dubbed it Miss World — and this proved a more appropriate title. Only one winner — the very first — was actually crowned wearing a bikini. The competition has survived protests from groups of varying political hues as well as scandals about contestants — and even the ignominy of being dropped from the British TV schedules. Opposition Controversy has dogged the competition throughout its history. There have been protests from feminists and socialists who argued that beauty contests were demeaning to women. There have also been complaints from traditionalists who thought it unfitting for women to parade around with few clothes on. The traditionalists had the first say. In the 1950s, Catholic countries such as Spain and Ireland threatened to pull out of the competition if the contestants wore bikinis. The competition organisers capitulated quickly, and bikinis were banned. At the 1970 competition at the Royal Albert Hall in London, feminists protested against the 'cattle market'. They hurled flour bombs and fruit at the stage and several protesters were arrested and fined. Feminist protest against the competition has continued, sporadically, up to this day. However, many feminists, in the West at least, think the competition has become too much of a joke to warrant protest. This is not the case in India, which has produced four of the last seven Miss Worlds. There, the competition has come in for fierce criticism from both conservative elements — in India's case religious fundamentalists — and from women's groups. Last year, one Indian state, Uttar Pradesh, banned beauty competitions altogether. Salvage attempt Attempts at transforming the Miss World competition from a politically incorrect spectator sport to a contest where significant qualities were being judged, have met with little success. In the 1980s, the organisers introduced judging based on personality and intelligence as well as looks. The competition was to be about 'beauty with a higher purpose'. Yet the organisers allocated a mere two minutes to assess personality and intelligence — an indication of the value they place on these characteristics in young women. Sugar and spice In 1974, Helen Morgan of the UK was crowned Miss World, but resigned from the position after four days, following the revelation that she was the unmarried mother of an 18-month-old boy. Alicia Rivas, Miss Venezuela, commented: 'In my country, a girl who has a baby without being married is regarded as a bad girl, not pure and undefiled as we are led to believe Miss World should be.' Both the organisers and the contestants participating in Miss World have tried to portray an image of girl-next-door purity aimed at the largely male audiences. But as far back as the 1960s, the organisers had to come to terms with the terrible truth: the contestants were ordinary women with ordinary experiences and histories. Miss Argentina, Norma Gladys Cappagli, was threatened with disqualification in 1960 when it was discovered that she liked a drink. She was, in fact, allowed to continue with the competition and went on to win it. But the real shock came a few years later when nude pictures of Miss World 1965 (the UK's Lesley Langley) and Miss World 1969 (Sweden's Eva Von Ruber-Staier) were discovered. The contestants have not always exhibited ladylike behaviour on stage either. In the 1953 competition, when Miss Egypt, Marina Papaelia, heard that Miss France had been crowned Miss World, she remarked loudly: 'I think she stink.' Alternatives The Alternative Miss World, first held in 1972, is an altogether more glamorous and irreverent affair than the original. The competition is open to all, say the organisers, but this is not the preserve of sweet blonde girls who want world peace, but of drag queens. In the words of Andrew Logan, a sculptor and organiser of Alternative Miss World, the pageant is 'a surrealist event for all the family, a spoof based on Crufts Dog Show'. |
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