A Russian teenager who goes by Alyona Pisklova (not her real name) won the balloting to represent Russia in the Miss Universe pageant after a friend entered her in the contest as a joke. (See pics below.)
Naturally, the contest gurus found a way to disqualify her. They say she’s too young, which is too bad.
And of course, the radical feminists have adopted her as a mascot and are using her to denounce Barbie, which makes you wonder who is being more exploited here (though the teen seems to have joined the anti-Barbie cause).
A feminist Web site said the vote for the girl was a vote “against unnatural beauties who cannot be distinguished from each other, fake emotions, smiles and gazes reflected in the lenses of professional photographers, products of the same type and trademark, popular music, cigarettes without nicotine and coffee without caffeine.” Okaaay.
And wouldn’t you know, anti-globalization groups also have joined in supporting the girl. I guess Miss Universe is a symbol of the evils of international trade.
I think democratizing beauty pageant voting sounds like a great idea. It would send a very different type of woman to these contests. It also would help disprove the notion that pageants contribute to men’s desire for women of a certain body type and facial structure. The fact is, men worldwide are attracted to the same types of features, and they aren’t necessarily the ones possessed by beauty pageant winners. In other words, democratizing the voting could achieve some of the results feminists want while simultaneously disproving one of their theories.
Alyona Pisklova
Miss Russia, 2003
