This post was written by guest contributor Nicole Hunter Mostafa (@nicolejhm). When I think about topics that are directly relevant to the lives of Muslim women, one that would probably be pretty low on my list is beauty pageants. Sure, in terms of feminist discourse, it’s not that hard to make the connection—beauty pageants’ primary […]

This last week has seen protests in Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya and Jogjakarta over the Miss World 2013 beauty pageant to be held in the next few weeks. Recently, I wrote a post about a similar debate in Malaysia where their Muslim participants were eventually dropped. The Miss World 2013 protests numbered in the thousands and […]

Beauty pageants have gotten a bad rap over the years for objectifying women by putting them on parade and privileging their looks over their personality or brains. Some pageants have actively tried to change this idea, by including a talent segment, and making charity work an increasingly bigger part of the winners’ duties. One such […]

When I was a kid, I must confess, I used to love to watch Miss Universe on TV. Despite my mom’s dislike for the show, she would let me watch it (not without swearing at the TV once in a while). Beauty pageants in the 90’s gained popularity in Mexico after Lupita Jones won the […]

Rima Fakih, an Arab Muslim immigrant, won the Miss USA Pageant Sunday night: She beat out four blondes and set off a whirlwind of media coverage stemming from her “stripper” past to her Shi’a background. On the positive side, one idealist commenter compared her to Barack Obama. Another went so far as to say her […]

Tahmena Bokhari, a feminist, Muslim, Canadian, social worker, and educator, was recently crowned Mrs. Pakistan 2010 (not to be confused with Miss Pakistan World). Bokhari’s accomplishments are varied and impressive: a master’s degree in social work, a history of working at women’s shelters and other humanitarian initiatives.  She currently teaches social work at two different […]

Let’s cut to the point: no matter how hard anyone tries to make it deep and philosophical, the word “beauty pageant” will always refer to looks. As variable and relative the definition of “beautiful” might be for a lot of people, some of those who work as beauticians and fashion experts put standards upon which […]