new miss world 2011-2015: Iranian Beauty Queens: Past & Present

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Beauty, while prized by all women, is especially celebrated in the Iranian culture. Why do you think Iranian women are always amongst the most stylish, perfectly coiffed and made-up women, in addition to their other, more internal qualities? The desire for attainment of physical perfection amongst Iranian women is illustrated by their constant grooming in the thousands of beauty salons that have endured even the Islamic regime. It is this beauty that the Islamic regime has tried in vain to suppress and hide behind drab clothing and restrictive hejab. Under the Pahlavi dynasty (1925 - 1979), Iran became a secular state like today predominantly Muslim countries such as Turkey, Kosovo, Albania, former Soviet countries in Central Asia, etc. During that period, there were several national pageants of Miss Iran and this country has sent contestants to some International pageants. But after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran turned back to a theocratic state like its neighbor countries in the Arab World and ruled by very strict Sharia. In 2002, after more than 2 decades of Islamic rule, Iranians tried to organize for the very first time a pageant called the “Qualified Girl” contest. Immediately, they drew the ire of hard-line newspapers and individuals who vowed to risk their lives so that this contest would not take place. Just goes to show you how much these religious fanatics are afraid of beauty. Before the revolution, beauty contests had attained great popularity in Iran, with a frenzied national voting system to rival that of American Idol. Today, Iranian women in exile from their country have continued this tradition, entering contests and organizing them as well, and of course winning awards all over the world.

Mitra Nikan-Pour, Miss Iran 1966