From: aklilu w (akliluw@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Jul 24 2009 - 17:49:54 EDT
Tattle: Saudis have another take on pageants
By Howard Gensler
Philadelphia Daily News
Daily News Tattle Columnist
WITH THE fuss continuing over the moral stance and contractual obligations of Miss California USA Carrie Prejean (does anyone remember who won Miss USA), Tattle would like to take you to another pageant where there's no swimsuit competition for contestants to parade around their bouncy, man-made, grapefruit-half breasts and they darn well better be opposed to gay marriage.
"Miss Beautiful Morals" is Saudi Arabia's only human beauty pageant. There are other pageants - for goats, sheep and camels, to encourage livestock breeding. But here at Miss Beautiful Morals, judges don't care who shows the most talent, but who shows the most devotion and respect for her parents.
"The idea of the pageant is to measure the contestants' commitment to Islamic morals . . . It's an alternative to the calls for decadence in the other beauty contests that only take into account a woman's body and looks," said pageant founder Khadra al-Mubarak.
"The winner won't necessarily be pretty," she added. "We care about the beauty of the soul and the morals."
The pageant begins Saturday, when the nearly 200 contestants, mostly Shiite, but with a few Sunni, will spend 10 weeks attending classes and being quizzed on themes including "Discovering your inner strength," "The making of leaders" and "Mom, paradise is at your feet" - a saying attributed to Islam's prophet Muhammad to underline that respect for parents is among the faith's most important tenets.
How do they feel about "world peace"? We saw "Miss Congeniality."
Pageant hopefuls will also spend a day at a country house with their mothers, where they will be observed by female judges and graded on how they interact, al-Mubarak said.
Sounds creepy enough to be a reality show, but it's not. The pageant (like the revolution) will not be televised. And since no men are involved, contestants can take off the veils and abayas they must wear in public.
The Miss Beautiful Morals pageant is the latest example of conservative Muslims' co-opting Western-style formats to spread their message. A newly created Islamic music channel recently aired an "American Idol"-style contest for religious-themed singers this month. And several Muslim preachers have become talk-show stars by going all "Oprah" - without the yo-yo dieting.
Miss Beautiful Morals and two runners-up will be announced in July, with the queen taking home a whopping $2,600 and other prizes. The runners-up get $1,300 each.
Clearly none of the oil revenue is going to this project. But it's not about the money. Last year's winner, Zahra al-Shurafa, a 21-year-old English major, said, "What is important is obeying your parents."