For as long as the Miss Universe pageant has been around (some odd 70 years now) one rule that stuck from its inception was one that prohibited mothers or married women from being participants.
However, that’s all set to change in the near future, thanks to an internal Miss Universe memo that the National obtained.
The changed agenda would allow for wives and mothers to compete, opening the door to a lot more women with different positions and perspectives, which before were limited only to single women between 18 and 28 years old.
The National confers that the organisation expressed that “women should have agency over their lives and that a human’s personal decisions should not be a barrier to their success,” as per NowThisNews.
The topic of why mothers and wives couldn’t participate in the pageant has long been a matter of curiosity and frustration to many. People have opted to challenge the rules themselves as a recent change.org petition dubbed “#RightToBeAMother: Allow Mothers to Compete in Miss World and Miss Universe” epitomises.
Josh Yugen, national director of Miss Universe Bahrain said that the change is “aligned with what [he] has been fighting for – breaking stereotypes and unlearning the stigma that the old society has forced on us from many many decades ago.”
If the changes do go ahead and the competition evolves, all eyes will turn to countries’ pageant entry requirements like that of Miss SA which recently made progress by allowing for transgender applicants, but still doesn’t allow for mothers or wives to participate.
The Miss South Africa Organisation has said that it is “actively reviewing this requirement in the context of international competition rules and hopes to implement meaningful change in the future,” in light of the motherhood restriction.
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