NIS 30 million. This is the amount that has been transferred from the state budget to promote the international beauty pageant “Miss Universe”, which was held in Eilat this morning (2 at night). The first stage of the competition was held on Saturday night, with the traditional dress parade and grand finale airing already on the night between Sunday and Monday (congratulations to the winner of the Renaissance Sando from India!).
Miss Universe 2021 Hernaz Sando from India Photo: Guy Yechieli
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The Ministry of Tourism has invested NIS 6.5 million, the Eilat Municipality has invested NIS 7 million and the competition organizers have given a rough estimate that the exposure of the competition and of Israel in digital will reach a value of $ 90 million and 600 million views worldwide. The price of a ticket starts at no less than 650 shekels for one ticket and can reach up to 2,500 NIS per ticket. Men.
Steve Harvey, the mythological competition judge who also judged in Eilat. Photo: Shutterstock
So let’s refine something else. While in the United States we have been watching in recent years a wide variety of models like Winnie Harlow Proudly carrying Viteligo disease, Ashley Graham Which encourages a healthier female model andHunter Schaefer Being a rising voice in the trans community, Israel is the only country that still requires its models to meet one standard – be thin and beautiful or not.
True, there are new agencies in the country that encourage women of all types and sizes to come to model. And true, we are slowly starting to see a new model of new models in the landscape and thanks toRay Segev The amazing thing that allows all this magic to happen in 2021. We have also seen that the Pride Parades campaigns incorporate trans models, the Israeli Slavs encourage a healthier body model, talk more about normalizing the menstrual cycle discourse. But among us – who will be the anchor who will star in the cover story of the most respected magazine: Eden Pines or Maya Landsman?
From right to left – Winnie Harlow, Ashley Graham and Hunter Schaefer. Photos: Shutterstock
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Even retired Miss Universe, Linor Abergil Thinks this is an unnecessary contest and wrote a particularly angry story: “Women go in swimsuits while men distribute them and choose the one who gets to be Miss Universe. It is a disgrace that our girls should still be today by an out-of-body confirmation that values them, mostly by uneducated drooling men. No one can treat us like And we were an object without a soul that needs to be valued… everything and you have everything! More days will come and we will not believe that such competitions were with us. Shame! “
The History of Linor Abergel 12.12.21
The 2018 Eurovision-winning singer, Neta Barzilai, who was invited to open the competition, politely declined and wrote, “I was flattered by the offer to perform at the Miss Universe ceremony. “Body measurements, height and weight. Although updates have been made in the spirit of the period, I still think that a beauty contest is a difficult, outdated and diminishing concept. It is time to move forward.” The one who gave the number is Noa Kirl who surprisingly lost weight and some say she gave in to the beauty model
Neta Barzilai’s response Screenshot from News 13
This competition has been going on for 70 years. 70 years we see on our TV screen the beautiful women in the world, frolicking on the runway with short swimsuits and skinny high heels, scattering smiles everywhere and of course discussing world peace. Let us not forget that the contestants Must be single according to the competition rules. It was said of Miss Universe that she was sexist, that she wanted women. It has been said of Miss Universe that it is a meat market that women serve as objects in the hands of the creator. They said everything from everything, but forgot the main thing – Miss Universe is a competition that should not exist. It should not have taken place as early as 2000, certainly not in 2021, nor in the years to come.
We are so happy and welcome about the new and amazing world that will be revealed to us, some of us can finally identify with the models that appear on magazines, foreign signs and advertisements, but we forget that the State of Israel in general and the Ministry of Tourism in particular allow such competition in Eilat. Such a competition, headed by the old-fashioned beauty model that belittles women instead of empowering them, is undoubtedly something that makes us raise a few eyebrows in the air and ask: what message are we conveying to our daughters, our girlfriends, our sisters or viewers around the world when beauty pageants still make women Take place? More than that still exists here in Israel?
Winners of the Miss Pix de Universe Award Yael Scherer, Director General of the Lobby for the War on Sexual Violence Photo by Sivan Shachor, Yael Vered, owner of the Shame project
The exposure to the State of Israel is great, but it also has an image price and the NIS 30 million given by the government could benefit organizations that empower women, the elderly, education of children and youth, Holocaust survivors and most importantly – they will add more value to our girls watching such competitions on television. Much more than world peace. Not just anyone who watched the ‘Miss Fix the Universe’ competition initiated by the Women’s Lobby in Israel was sadly wondering why three amazing projects such as ‘The Lobby for Combating Violence Against Women’, ‘Shame Passes Over’ or Job 360 won grants of only NIS 30,000. Crumbs compared to what was invested in the competition in Eilat.
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