Protests Against Miss Venezuela 2013
Activists sporting sashes with names like “Miss Anorexia”, “Miss Envy”, “Miss Plastic” and “Miss Bulimia” joined other protesters who took to the streets outside the 2013 Miss Venezuela contest on 10 October.
Days before this year’s Miss Venezuela competition, the collectives Faldas en Revolución (Skirts in Revolution) and the Movimiento Revolucionario de Ciclismo Urbano (Revolutionary Urban Cycling Movement, MRCU) issued public statements calling for a boycott of the pageant, criticising it for promoting “capitalism”, “patriarchy” and “consumerism”.
Earlier this week, Maria Eugenia from the MRCU told Venezuelan media that the country needs to rethink how it views beauty.
“[Miss Venezuela contestants] are slaves of beauty standards that thousands of girls want to fit into year after year,” Eugenia stated.
In Venezuela, beauty and capitalism go hand in hand. Venezuela has won more major international beauty competitions than any other country, and Venezuelans spend millions of dollars each year on beauty products. On average, Venezuelan women spend around 20% of their salaries on beauty products, making the country’s beauty industry among the most profitable per capita.
Venezuela’s obsession with beauty has a long history, and remains strong today. However, opposition to events like Miss Venezuela is growing.