Posted on 11/21/2007 8:22:13 AM PST by Zakeet
Out of the ashes of war will rise a beauty queen.
Ten women will show off their beauty and brains — and their landmine injuries — in Angola next April in a competition to win a golden prosthetic limb and the title of Miss Landmine 2008.
The project, created by Norwegian theater director Morten Traavik, is designed to raise awareness of the plight of landmine survivors. Contestants will have to demonstrate their skills and take part in an interview, though the details have yet to be finalized.
"There is no sensationalistic intentions within Miss Landmine," Traavik said. "Of course the format has been chosen because it's obviously a very media friendly forum, but it still is based very, very much on local culture, since beauty pageants are such a consistent phenomenon in Angolan contemporary culture."
The idea for Miss Landmine was born four years ago when Traavik traveled to Angola's capital, Luanda, and was struck by two things: the country's landmine problem, the remnants of more than 20 years of civil war, and Angolans' love of beauty pageants.
"We tend to associate beauty pageants with sleaze and exploitation of women and so on, but this felt very different. This was much more of a celebration, much more of a carnival-esque in many ways," he said of his first pageant experience in Angola.
Up to 80,000 people are estimated to have been injured by landmines in Angola, according to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.
"Angola is definitely up there, probably in the top three countries in the world in terms of mine problems; Afghanistan and Cambodia being the other two," said Andrew Lyons, the vice president of Halo USA, an organization that works to remove landmines from the country.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
They don’t have a...uh, nevermind
Well, yes, actually, there is. That would seem to be the whole point, in fact.
I have nothing against the pageant itself, but c'mon.
Wow...what’s next? Miss Mastectomy?
This is about the dumbest damned thing I ever heard of.
To be fair, their should be a ‘Mr. Orchiectomy Pageant’ as well.
LOL!!
I think that's called a Senate race.
Actually it's a Republican primary.
The “Miss Landmine” doesn’t seem to fit.
Maybe “Hit Landmine” or “Stepped on Landmine” or something.
I mean, the while point is that they didn’t miss the landmine, isn’t it?
By the way, last years winner was Eileen Footloose.
“I think that’s called a Senate race.
Actually it’s a Republican primary.”
No, that’s a wedding.
It’s “the agony of defeet”.
That was always my favorite part of “Wide World Of Sports.” The guy crashing through the fence on skis.
I can’t wait to see which contestant comes in 1st Place in the Dance Routine part of the pagent. /duh
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