A South African beauty pageant contestant with Nigerian heritage was forced to withdraw from the competition after her participation fueled anti-immigrant sentiments.
Tag: Beauty Contests
Karolina Shiino’s Brief Reign as Japan’s First Foreign-Born Beauty Queen
Karolina Shiino, a naturalized Japanese citizen who was born in Ukraine, resigned two weeks after winning the Miss Japan crown.
Miss Universe Is Latest Target of Nicaragua Government Crackdown
Sheynnis Palacios, the first Nicaraguan to win the pageant, became a symbol of resistance. The authoritarian leadership soon came after people close to the competition.
Nelia Sancho, Beauty Queen Turned Defiant Rights Activist, Dies at 71
She had been competing in pageants in the Philippines, but she found her calling when she observed the offenses of the Marcos regime firsthand.
Rikkie Valerie Kollé Is the First Trans Woman to Win Miss Netherlands
Rikkie Valerie Kollé, 22, will represent the Netherlands at the 72nd annual Miss Universe pageant in El Salvador later this year.
Beauty Over Brains: Japan’s Skin-Deep University Pageants
The contests reflect a culture that often judges women by their appearance and slots them into rigid, gender-defined roles.
Meet the Beauty Queens of Al Dhafra
Camel beauty contests take center stage at a celebration of Bedouin culture, held annually in the United Arab Emirates.
Miss Universe Myanmar Arrives in Florida With a Message for the Junta
Ma Thuzar Wint Lwin hopes to use her international platform as a pageant contestant to criticize the country’s military coup and support the pro-democracy movement.
After Snatching One Crown, Mrs. World Gives Up Her Own
Last year’s winner of a pageant for married women grabbed a crown from the 2021 Mrs. Sri Lanka winner, who she claimed was divorced, in violation of pageant rules.
Black Women Now Hold Crowns in 5 Major Beauty Pageants
Toni-Ann Singh of Jamaica won the Miss World pageant on Saturday. Black women also hold the 2019 crowns of Miss Teen USA, Miss America, Miss USA and Miss Universe.