The Weird and The Wacky Meet

Where YouBetIAm comes to write….

Miss Afghanistan:  A Beauty with a Cause

Vida Samadzai competed in the Miss Earth pageant last month in Manila.  While she didn't win, her participation itself was an achievement.  You see, Samadzai, aged 23, was born and raised in Afghanistan and is the first woman from that nation to compete in a beauty pageant in over 30 years.               

                 According to news.yahoo.com, in 1996, Samadzai left Afghanistan due to the restrictions that were being placed on women under the harsh regime of the Taliban.  She sought refuge in America and is currently attending college in Southern California, where she is working towards a double major of international business and communications.

                 Samadzai started participating in pageants, not for vanity or personal gain, but as an extension of her work in the cause of women's rights.  She wanted to draw attention to the plight of women in Afghanistan and to the environmental troubles the country is having after decades of war.  Last year, she competed in the Miss America International competition and placed third.  It was because of her activism in social justice that Samadzai was appointed to compete the Miss Earth pageant by Susan Jeske, a former Miss America.

                 Samadzai did not make the semi-finals in the Miss Earth pageant.  However, she did receive an award entitled "Beauty for a Cause" for founding an Afghan women's rights organization and for her efforts as a volunteer fund-raiser.  According to the pageant, this award symbolizes "the newfound confidence, courage and spirit of today's women" and represents "the victory of women's rights and various social, personal and religious struggles."

                 Last week she received official condemnation from the Afghan Supreme Court in Kabul for wearing a bikini in public.  The court is reported as saying that "[w]omen who show their bodies without clothes in front of people are completely against Shariah (Islamic) law, against Islam and against the culture of the Afghan people."  A senior Afghan official has stated that she could face criminal charges if she returns to Afghanistan.

                 In an interview with Associated Press Television News, Samadzai stated, "I know that... it's caused a lot of controversy and I didn't feel comfortable wearing it...because it's not...my culture."  At the same time she has also said that she would not do anything differently and does not regret appearing in the bikini.

                 Since a two-piece bathing suit was required for the contest, Samadzai chose to act against the culture she was raised in and her own comfort level for a higher cause.  Participating in pageants gives her the recognition needed to help raise money and support for helping Afghans.  In her own words, "[i]t gives me a chance to speak up and send my voice out there and let people know that the Afghans are in great need of help".

                 In an interview for the Los Angeles Times, Samadzai said her next goal is to produce and direct a film about Afghan women that speaks to the differences between Western Values and Islamic culture.  She will also continue her work in women's rights.

Copyright 2003

Vida Samadzai at Miss Earth Pageant

Date: 12/11/03

By Amanda Evans