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Protest Letters Against the Miss Roma International Competiton

The International Romani Women Network (IRWN) strongly protests against the organisation of the Miss Roma International competition in Skopje/Macedonia and calls for its boycott. We are extremely disgusted by the fact that the organiser dares to present this event as an act which contributes to the emancipation of Romani  women.

Romani women are beautiful and strong. Over generations they have led the lives of their communities and people and contributed to preserve Romani culture and tradition. They have suffered double discrimination as Roma and as women.

Beauty contests are nothing but the perpetration of a centuries-old history where women are at the sole service of men. It is men who decide about their lives and destiny. It is men who decide over the price to pay for a woman.

Romani women have a right to respect and to dignity! They have a right to independent life! They have a right to joy and happiness! They do not need to be rated on their physical appearance on the basis of criteria which are taken from picture magazines.

We call on everyone to publicly denounce the organisation of Romani miss competitions. No publicity should be given to such events which are at odds with our culture and tradition.

We call on Romani men to stand with us in our fight together against discrimination of Romani women. You cannot expect our support if you support attitudes and events which are discriminatory against Romani women.

You have to understand that Romani people are one, and there will be no emancipation of Romani people as long as Romani women continue to be oppressed!

Soraya Post /President IRWN Board on behalf of all IRWN members.

International Romani Women Network (IRWN)



To all NGOs,

We, the Roma Women Network from Serbia, that gathers women activists, organizations and initiatives, and from whom some of us have been working over a decade on improving the position of Roma women and men, are asking you to join us with this letter in protest against the support of the manifestation "Miss Roma International" that is planned to take place in Skopje in 2007. 

The support coming from the Roma community to this kind of manifestation through advertisements and the approval is explicit in discrimination against Roma women. Romany community, which is vulnerable in all the countries where Roma people live, should be a safe place for us, Roma women, and we are requesting that you, activists who spread the idea of the universal human rights, to support and to develop it outside and within Roma community.

Manifestation that has in its program a selection of the "most beautiful" girl, degrading women and putting us in the merchandise position, showing us as the beings which do not worth much, as bodies which have to fulfill standards that are forced upon us, since they must be young, thin, tall, and through those fulfillment our "value" can be shown.

We should not forget that the sole concept of beauty is the social construction compliant with social trends, and it is artificially produced from modern industries and developed monopolistic countries, in order to make profit. 

The concept of beauty in the modern world, apart from the sexist one, has an racial dimension too, because it has white Anglo-Saxon and German race as a model.

It's not unknown that Black men and women as well as Latino Americans in America believe to be beautiful if their complexion is whiter, and we see an example of Asian men and women who adjust their appearance more and more to the European standards.

Though racism becomes a theme that can be publicly discussed and fought against, it is deep-rooted even within ourselves, and we look up to the culture that is dominant and monopolistic, following it with little thinking.  

Even if we try to create the concept of beauty – we, Roma men and women are many on the different ends of the world, with physical characteristics of the climate where we live and we cannot talk anymore about the universal appearance or to create its standards.

In a world from which we are demanding to respect diversity and individual freedom, according to the principals for which we stand for, we need to care for, celebrate and to support all those individuals that are appearing among ourselves.

Though the organizer of the selection for the Miss, Mr. Zoran Dimov, is calling the girls to become a part of this "traditional" festival in a hurry, we must remind that in the Romany tradition, on which many Roma activists are calling upon, there is no concept of a pretentiousness with the beauty, and this phenomenon is relatively new one.

Instead of promoting the looks; it is time to promote what is useful for all of us. We, Roma women have the shortest life span in Europe, amongst all illiterate Roma adults, 80% are women. They don't employ us, they don't trust in our capabilities and they are treating us without respect.

Do you ever ask yourselves how Roma women feel as they are walking to be rated by others? Does their self-confidence get stronger only if others approve their bodies and only how much in the moment for those, most often to organizers and those who influence to selection, they are beautiful, young, and sexy? Is there other ways for them to be happy, strong and self-reliable?

Don't you think that, instead of forcing our appearance, that will made us only a decoration in home, should be celebrated our empowerment, better health, education, employment, advancement, personal success?

And in the end, we are calling all of you to think about our media. Which values media are promoting if they are calling us to work on something that endangers half of the Romany population?

Do all of us, female and male activists, work enough on their education or do we assume that they will comprehend themselves all?

Like the media, like Romany community…and media is such as we are, with our influence, modeling them.

With calling on your support,

Roma Women Network

The Advocacy Project
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