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I know it’s pretty cold up in that area of the world but come on, now … There’s got to be a better way of wiling the hours away in prison other than having inmate beauty pageants, no?
The annual “Miss Spring” contest allows the incarcerated women to do just that: wile the hours away, practicing all year for the annual beauty pageant. Which, if won, allows the woman early release from her term of service.
“Miss Spring”, according to participants, is not so unlike “Miss America.” The women are allowed three get-ups, spiky stilettos and all, the obligatory catwalk to upbeat music and the nerves that go along with participating in a life-changing event.
Now, I’ll be honest with you … I’ve never been a pageant fan. I’ll occasionally watch a few minutes of one here or there, just appreciating the beautiful women who make their debut, but the whole idea of a beauty pageant, to me, is completely ridiculous. It’s asinine, backward and detrimental to female societal growth. And to hold such events in prison, where people are sent to focus on their repentance for crimes or rehabilitation from drugs and the like completely throws me for a loop.
The program is designed to integrate women into prison society, thus preparing them for a re-entry to civilized life. The prison’s beauty pageant tradition started approximately five years ago and costumes were fashioned out of supplies on hand such as towels, plastic trash liners and the like. As the pageant’s popularity rose, better provisional clothing was brought into the facility for the female prisoners to don.
Preparation for the event takes weeks, according to directors and inmate officials and as said above, prepares the women for life on the outside. While I don’t doubt that the event is an attempt to take some of the rougher edges off these women and it does more than likely create a sense of family and camaraderie, it hardly prepares the inmate for “life on the outside.” It more or less seems to be going from the frying pan into the fire. What about the emotionally-charged woman who landed in prison to begin with for prostitution, which was a result of poor self-image and objectification by men? This does nothing for that particular woman in question. It only sets her up to be knocked down by the cruel rigors of society in a country where there is no apparent form of post-prison rehabilitation.
While the event certainly has some positive points, it has just as many negative aspects that could truly damage a fragile woman’s perception of reality. I think this particular prison system, which doesn’t formally have a “re-entry into society” program, should focus more on the necessities and high demands of living as a crime-free individual (male or female) and not so much on a frivolous event like a beauty pageant.
Thoughts?
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“if won, allows the woman early release from her term of service.”
That really, really bothers me. Esentially it’s sending the message that being hot is your get-out-of-jail-free card.
Agreed. I do like the fact that they are striving for a goal, obviously something that they haven’t had much of in life.
Question: Are all prisoners allowed to participate or just low level offenders like prostitutes? If it’s just low level non-violent offenders then I don’t see anything wrong with it. It could help their self esteem to feel pretty.
Um, I really don’t think most people become prostitutes because of poor self image. I think its mostly about the money.
There are less humiliating ways to make money.
Many prostitutes would be more humiliated by working a minimum wage job that required a name tag than they are by fucking people for money.
I wonder if any of them will make a shank for the talent contest.
HAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh. Man. Wow. That’s hilarious!
Wow. What a sad story.
I too started out thinking “grrrrrrrrrrr beauty pageant? Really?”
Then, I read the article. It’s less about objectifying than it is about desperation. If this is the one bright spot in these women’s lives, who am I to belittle it?
Your right,it was a sad article. The suffering in the former Soviet Union is immense. I was on a web site of a photographer who’s main subject was the old,addicted and poor of that country. Those images still haunt me a year later. Its not one world!
Well, do they let male prisoners compete at the men’s prison a la Chippendale’s dancers? If not, then it is discriminatory!
Seriously, this beauty pageant thing also speaks to the “little woman” theory that women aren’t deeply anything- intelligent, angry, sociopathic. . . we are just a bunch of beings with crescent rolls for brains. We will forget what we were thinking/talking about in a few minutes and no longer be a threat. And what better distraction than a beauty pageant. ‘Cause no girl can resist makeup and spangly things!
mmmm…crescent rolls.
Damn, I missed the point, didn’t I?
Instead of beauty pageants, how about letting them compete in some sort of trivia game that will test brains and thinking as opposed to freakin’ looks? How about, “whoever gets the most questions right on this reading comprehension exam gets an extra blanket for a week” or “whoever helps others out the most gets an extra piece of cake at dinner” or something?
Why is it “whoever’s prettiest gets to leave early regardless of what crime landed them in the slammer?” Not only does this send the wrong message, it is demeaning. What about the bigger, unattractive prisoner that actually has a brain?
Reading this article left me really sad for the women of Russia. I’m glad this is a bright moment in the complete drudgery that every day must be for them, and if it lifts their spirits, great, but I can’t help but think that something a little more intelligence-based, or socially-uplifting would be more beneficial for these women who literally have almost nothing. I’d much rather they leave prison with a better and smarter head on their shoulders than a tiara on their head.
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