Miss Universe to allow mothers, married women from 2023; details inside
Mumbai, August 22: In a clearly historic decision, the Miss Universe beauty pageant is increasing competition eligibility by allowing mothers and married women to compete.
According to Fox News, starting in 2023, the marital and parental status will no longer be criteria for eligibility for pageant contestants. The Miss Universe pageant has always required that the winner be single and maintain that status throughout their reign as the title.
Mothers have historically been barred from competing, and victors are often forced to refrain from becoming pregnant while serving as Miss Universe.
Andrea Meza of Mexico, Miss Universe 2020, welcomed the rule change. She described established rules as "unrealistic."
"I honestly love that this is happening...Just like society changes and women are now occupying leadership positions where in the past only men could, it was about time pageants changed and opened up to women with families," Meza said in an interview with Insider.
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Meza criticised the current guidelines for being "sexist" and "unrealistic" in their attempt to pick a winner who would appeal to the majority of people.
"A few people are against these changes because they always wanted to see a single beautiful woman who is available for a relationship," Meza added. "They always wanted to see a woman that, from the outside, looks so perfect that she's almost unreachable. The former is sexist and the latter is unrealistic."
The Miss Universe pageant is aired on FYI and Telemundo in over 160 territories and countries across the world, including the United States.
India's Harnaaz Sandhu was crowned Miss Universe 2021. Harnaaz Sandhu of Punjab represented India at the 70th Miss Universe 2021 contest in Eilat, Israel. Only two Indians had previously won the Miss Universe title: actors Sushmita Sen in 1994 and Lara Dutta in 2000.
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-PTC News
