{"id":1229,"date":"2019-02-24T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-24T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/?p=1229"},"modified":"2019-02-24T15:00:10","modified_gmt":"2019-02-24T15:00:10","slug":"shes-beauty-and-shes-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/2019\/02\/24\/shes-beauty-and-shes-grace\/","title":{"rendered":"She&#8217;s beauty and she&#8217;s grace&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>On 18<sup>th<\/sup> October 1954 Antigone Costanda, Miss Egypt, became the first non-European to be crowned Miss World. The following year, during the 1955 Miss World beauty pageant, Costanda did not attend the event and crown her successor as per the usual tradition due to political hostilities between Egypt and Britain over the Suez Canal. On 15<sup>th<\/sup> October during the 1956 Miss World pageant this photo is taken of Miss Israel (Rina Weiss \u2013 left), holding hands with Miss Egypt (Normal Dugo \u2013 right). Some two weeks later on the 29<sup>th<\/sup> October, Israel invaded the Egyptian Sinai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1020\" height=\"1390\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/oct-10-1956-miss-world-competitors-on-parade-miss-israel-and-miss-E0MX0B-1.jpg?fit=750%2C1023\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1230\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/oct-10-1956-miss-world-competitors-on-parade-miss-israel-and-miss-E0MX0B-1.jpg?w=1020&amp;ssl=1 1020w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/oct-10-1956-miss-world-competitors-on-parade-miss-israel-and-miss-E0MX0B-1.jpg?resize=220%2C300&amp;ssl=1 220w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/oct-10-1956-miss-world-competitors-on-parade-miss-israel-and-miss-E0MX0B-1.jpg?resize=768%2C1047&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/oct-10-1956-miss-world-competitors-on-parade-miss-israel-and-miss-E0MX0B-1.jpg?resize=751%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 751w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><figcaption>Miss Israel (Rina Weiss) and Miss Egypt (Norma Dugo) posing together when they took part in the swimming suit parade 1956<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Carole Crawford, Miss Jamaica, became Miss World in 1963, just months after Jamaican independence in 1962. Remembered as one of the shortest entrants (only 5\u20193\u201d) and a face that was \u2018uncharacteristically Jamaican\u2019, being only part black, Carole became the first \u201ccoloured\u201d Miss World. She went on to become a nationally recognised icon \u2013 with her face pictured on a special issue of more than 3 million stamps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"203\" height=\"239\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/crawfordstamp-1.jpg?resize=203%2C239\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"1232\" data-link=\"http:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/?attachment_id=1232\" class=\"wp-image-1232\" \/><figcaption>Miss Jamaica stamp<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"745\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/nov-22-1963-22-11-63-miss-jamaica-appears-on-stamps-carole-joan-crawford-E0WR7Y-745x1024.jpg?resize=745%2C1024\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"1238\" data-link=\"http:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/?attachment_id=1238\" class=\"wp-image-1238\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/nov-22-1963-22-11-63-miss-jamaica-appears-on-stamps-carole-joan-crawford-E0WR7Y.jpg?resize=745%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 745w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/nov-22-1963-22-11-63-miss-jamaica-appears-on-stamps-carole-joan-crawford-E0WR7Y.jpg?resize=218%2C300&amp;ssl=1 218w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/nov-22-1963-22-11-63-miss-jamaica-appears-on-stamps-carole-joan-crawford-E0WR7Y.jpg?resize=768%2C1056&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/nov-22-1963-22-11-63-miss-jamaica-appears-on-stamps-carole-joan-crawford-E0WR7Y.jpg?w=1011&amp;ssl=1 1011w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 745px) 100vw, 745px\" \/><figcaption>Miss Jamaica, Carole Crawford with her stamp<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1966, the winner was Reita Faria from India, the first Asian woman to win the event. She impressed the judges in \u2018Best in Eveningwear\u2019 for wearing a sari and after her one-year tenure as Miss World went back to concentrating on her medical studies, becoming the first Miss World doctor. That same year Miss Spain, Paquita Torres Perez, withdrew from the competition because Miss Gibraltar, Grace Valverde, was in the pageant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"830\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/13.jpg?resize=600%2C830\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1233\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/13.jpg?w=600&amp;ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/13.jpg?resize=217%2C300&amp;ssl=1 217w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption>Reita Faria in a red sari, winner of the best evening dress and Miss World in 1966<br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>By 1970, 58 contestants competed for the Miss World title but it was Jennifer Hosten, Miss Grenada who won the crown. The event was marked by controversy in the days beforehand, during the contest itself and afterwards. Hosten was the first black woman to win Miss World and there were several accusations the contest had been rigged. The organisers had allowed two entries from South Africa, one black (who placed 2<sup>nd<\/sup>) and one white. The evening itself was affected by protest by Women\u2019s Liberation activists and the Angry Brigade anarchists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"469\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/rah_35854371613.jpg?resize=750%2C469\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"1234\" data-link=\"http:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/?attachment_id=1234\" class=\"wp-image-1234\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/rah_35854371613.jpg?w=800&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/rah_35854371613.jpg?resize=300%2C188&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/rah_35854371613.jpg?resize=768%2C480&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><figcaption>Protesters at the 1970 Miss World<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"634\" height=\"639\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/5805404-6356311-image-a-5_1541454556473-1.jpg?resize=634%2C639\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"1236\" data-link=\"http:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/?attachment_id=1236\" class=\"wp-image-1236\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/5805404-6356311-image-a-5_1541454556473-1.jpg?w=634&amp;ssl=1 634w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/5805404-6356311-image-a-5_1541454556473-1.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/5805404-6356311-image-a-5_1541454556473-1.jpg?resize=298%2C300&amp;ssl=1 298w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 634px) 100vw, 634px\" \/><figcaption>The winners and runners up at the 1970 Miss World<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These incidents demonstrate that the Miss World beauty pageant is not just a competition judging beauty. It is a site in which meanings are ascribed to individual and collective identities performed through women\u2019s bodies, where political, cultural and racial issues are contested and mediated, and the nation is forced to confront itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Miss World contest was created in 1951 as part of the\n\u2018Festival of Britain\u2019, which was initially pitched as a celebration of the\ncentennial of the Great Exhibition of 1851. The winner selected was Kiki\nH\u00e5kansson from Sweden, despite 21 out of the 26 contestants being British, leading\nthe contest to be dubbed \u2018Miss World\u2019 by the media. Gradually, as the\npopularity of the contest grew, countries sent in candidates from their own\nnational competitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus, for a woman to reach the London stage and present\nherself in front a transnational audience and panel of judges, she must first\nbe deemed suitable in demeanour, appearance, and style to embody the values and\ngoals of her nation. This process is self-reflective and a place where a\nparticular public can \u201ctell stories to themselves about themselves\u201d.<a href=\"#_ftn1\">[1]<\/a>\nEach decision made by the individual and those surrounding her, whether it\u2019s\nabout skin colour, dress or even body language, reveal elements about the\npolitical, social and cultural context in which national identities are\nexpressed and constructed. Consider: South Africa sending two racially\ncontrasting candidates, Miss India choosing to wear a sari for the evening wear\nportion of the show or even Miss Egypt and Miss Israel holding hands in the\nmidst of a conflict between their home countries. The Miss World beauty pageant\ninsists on equating women\u2019s bodies with discourses of the nation, formulating\nthe equation woman=nation. The deployment of female bodies to such a degree heightens\nthe performativity of national feminine identity and its negotiation on a\nglobal stage. On the other hand, these women also represent a \u2018world community\u2019\nand those who win often end up conforming to the aesthetics of an unspoken\nwestern vision of glamour or style.<a href=\"#_ftn2\">[2]<\/a>\nFurthermore, the contest itself is a profoundly political arena where issues\nregarding gender, race and international conflicts are negotiated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is why I have decided to choose the Miss World beauty\npageants to be the focus of my final project. I will look at the first 19 years\nof its existence starting with Kiki in 1951 and ending with Jennifer in 1970,\nhighlighting how the global and the national interests interact during moments\nof tension and also sympathy. In this way I hope to find out what it means to\nbe a specifically feminine representative of the nation. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a> Sarah Benet-Weiser, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World and National Identity (California, 1999), p. 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a> Raka Shome, Transnational Feminism and Communication Studies, The Communication Review 9.4 (2006), p. 264<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On 18th October 1954 Antigone Costanda, Miss Egypt, became the first non-European to be crowned Miss World. The following year, during the 1955 Miss World beauty pageant, Costanda did not attend the event and crown her successor as per the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5wNtZ-jP","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1229"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1239,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1229\/revisions\/1239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}