Following are excerpts from a TV report on a Saudi moral beauty pageant, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on August 2, 2009.
Reporter: Female beauty is no longer dependent on looks alone. This has been replaced by moral values and conduct the new criteria in the first contest of moral beauty queens in Saudi Arabia. In the contest, which was organized by a womens festival, several girls competed for the title.
Contest supervisor Khadhraa Al-Mubarak: In our contacts with girls in general, we noticed that they follow false notions, due to the purposeless Western notions, conveyed by some TV channels. The girls are preoccupied with their external appearance only. This is how we came up with the idea of creating an alternative. So we thought of a contest for the title of moral beauty queen. The goal is, first and foremost, to spread virtue, even if through different means. In this contest, we focus on the theme of honoring ones parents.
[...]
Moral beauty queen Aya Al-Mula: We were like sisters in a family. It was very nice. The contest focused on external skills, such as home design or skin care, and internal abilities, such as interpersonal skills and personal improvement.
First runner-up Hawraa Al-Mahdi: I entered the contest and the courses, which were very nice. They judged my personality, both externally and internally.
Second runner-up Fatima Al-Tarouti: I was the youngest contestant. Even though I didnt win the contest, its enough that I made it to the finals.
Reporter: The contestants acquired many social and interpersonal skills, before the elimination process began and the winner was announced. The contestants who lost did not leave the contest empty-handed. Their very participation in the contest was rewarding.
@TheIcelandicPatriot do not be ignorant like millions of others. Nobody is forcing them to hide their faces. It is their choice so stop giving ignorant comments. Beauty comes from within, nobody said you had to see beauty in order to appreciate it. By covering themselves the way they do, they're forcing people to judge them based on their minds and not their behinds. Beauty is something that shouldn't be abused nor worn out by all the inappropriate stares in public.
galaxysamsung09 1 hour ago
Repungent!!
saravuram 6 days ago
this makes me sad.
Daugueffxi 1 week ago
I am dumbfounded
Hamjam117 1 week ago
How do I know there aren't ten or so penises beneath those robes?
mphello 2 weeks ago
So many contestants, judges and an audience from around the world!! How can a woman win such a renound competition??
JohnQRandom 2 weeks ago
What backward culture,, they should educate themself
eesho 2 weeks ago
Yes beuty comes both inside and outside but by the fact that you force your womens to hide instead of allowing them to choose for themselfs says all we need to know about your so called morals.
TheIcelandicPatriot 3 weeks ago