Miss Venezuela, Dayana Mendoza
For news junkies, say the word Venezuela, and one will automatically think of two things: its assertive leader Hugo Chavez who is the bane of the USA in Latin America (a role he has taken over from Fidel Castro) and of course, oil. The latter serves as Venezuela’s main industry and main source of revenue as well as contention with the outside world. Yet there is another natural resource that Venezuela has been blessed with: beauty, and more specifically beautiful women for beauty pageants.
Rory Carroll of the UK Guardian takes a look at Venezuela’s beauty industry in: No place for runners-up in land of oil and beauty. Here’s an excerpt from the article:
Many ordinary Venezuelans, male and female, proudly assert that this is a land blessed with two things: oil and beautiful women. There are thousands of local beauty contests held annually in schools and villages and banks offer loans for nose jobs.
President Hugo Chávez has railed against widespread cosmetic surgery – girls as young as 15 request breast enlargements as birthday presents – and has tried to steer the country in a more socialist and less materialistic direction.
But not even the commandante criticises the pageants.
September 30, 2008 at 10:09 pm
I’m originally from Venezuela and yes it is a beautiful country known for its oil and beautiful women. I find that the comment in regards to 15 year olds wanting breast enlargements to be a universal thing. Here in America we also find girls that are obsessed with their looks and especially with what they eat. They also want boob and nose jobs at a very young age. I find that girls who grow up in the United States have a more innacurate view of themselves that girls in Venezuela. Venezuelan role models are fit but tend to be healthier with womenly curves. Contrary to American role models like the Olsen Twins and Victoria Beckham who starve themselves in order to be “beautiful” stick figures. The models that compete in the Miss Venezuela are healthy and beautiful because they have a healthy diet, not one that consists of spending days eating entirely nothing.