Crowning Ms Beautiful Morals

04:02 PM May 08, 2009

RIYADH (Saudi Arabia) - Ms Sukaina Al Zayer is an unlikely beauty queen hopeful. She covers her face and body in black robes and an Islamic veil, so no one can tell what she looks like. She also admits she is a little on the plump side.

But at Saudi Arabia’s only beauty pageant, the judges do not care about a perfect figure or face. What they are looking for in the quest for “Miss Beautiful Morals” is the contestant who shows the most devotion and respect for her parents.

“The idea of the pageant is to measure the contestants’ commitment to Islamic morals... It’s an alternative to the calls for decadence in the other beauty contests that only take into account a woman’s body and looks,” said pageant founder Khadra Al Mubarak.

Pageant hopefuls will also spend a day at a country house with their mothers, where they will be observed by female judges and graded on how they interact with their mothers.

The Miss Beautiful Morals pageant, now in its second year, is the latest example of conservative Muslims co-opting Western-style formats to spread their message in the face of the onslaught of foreign influences flooding the region through the Internet and television. AP

From TODAY, World – Friday, 08-May-2009