In late November, at an arena in Thailand, Victoria Theilvig will hand her crown to a successor. Nadeen Ayoub will be one of the women vying for it.
That crown is for Miss Universe.
Theilvig was the first Miss Denmark to win, and the first blonde contestant to win since Australia's own Jennifer Hawkins in 2004.
The competition — which has run since 1952 — has had several historic moments. In 2024, the first hijabi Somalia's Khadija Omar, and the first Indigenous Canadian, Ashley Callingbull, competed for the Miss Universe crown.
Ashley Callingbull and Khadija Omar both made history at the 2024 Miss Universe competition. Credit: Getty Images / Hector Vivas
Over more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas, Israeli bombardment has devastated Gaza, reducing much of the enclave to rubble. Palestinian health officials estimate at least 68,000 people in Gaza have been killed since October 7. In the attack by Hamas, 1,200 people, including an estimated 30 children, were killed and over 200 hostages taken, according to the Israeli government.
Ayoub views her role as Miss Palestine as an opportunity to represent Palestinian identity, resilience and womanhood on a global stage.
"It's supposed to show a side of us beyond just the things that we're seeing on the news and the headlines," she told SBS Dateline.
Becoming Miss Palestine
Ayoub was born in the US, and spent her childhood between Ramallah in the West Bank and the US. Her father was born in Nablus and her mother in Hebron, both cities in the West Bank.
As a teenager, her family moved to Canada, where she finished high school and college before moving back to Ramallah. She is now based between Ramallah and Dubai.
Her first major outing as Miss Palestine was at the 2022 Miss Earth contest, where she placed in the final five. She was then supposed to compete in Miss Universe, but postponed her debut because of the war in Gaza.
In 2022, Ayoub represented Palestine in the Miss Earth competition, which is one of the ‘big four’ international pageants alongside Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss International. She is pictured here with Miss Earth-Fire, Andrea Aguilera of Colombia, Miss Earth 2012 Mina Sue Choi of South Korea, and Miss Earth-Air Sheridan Mortlock of Australia. Credit: AAP / EPA / Francis R. Malasig
Witnessing the destruction in Gaza over the last two years has been devastating for her, particularly seeing the suffering of children.
"I remembered myself as a child with all these dreams and hopes and love of life. And I know that these children aren't any different."
"They deserve a chance in the world."
Ultimately, she would like to see "Palestine thriving" and for Palestinians be able to "to grow, to develop our country".
For her, Miss Universe is a platform that "celebrates women, and not just their physical beauty, but it celebrates their social responsibility work".
Miss Universe is one of the world’s most popular beauty pageants: in 2017, it was watched by more than 4.4 million TV viewers in the US, according to NBC News. Its winner becomes an ambassador for the organisation, travelling around the world to promote philanthropic causes. Theilvig, the current Miss Universe, is particularly passionate about animal rights and mental health awareness. As part of her duties, she’s travelled extensively to countries including Puerto Rica, Vietnam, Aruba, Colombia and India.
Miss Universe also receives an annual salary.
Despite this, it — and beauty pageants more broadly — remain controversial.
The complex relationship between beauty pageants and politics
Dr Hannah McCann, senior lecturer in cultural studies at the University of Melbourne, said culturally, the "significance of beauty pageants to feminism — it kind of can't be understated".
The women's liberation movement gained notoriety for its protest of the 1968 Miss America pageant, where protesters paraded sheep and held signs, opposing what they viewed as a symbol of women’s oppression. Protesters also had a 'Freedom trash can', which they threw magazines, lipsticks and bras into.
"This is where the myth of the feminist bra burning comes from," McCann said.
The protest of the 1968 Miss America pageant was organised by the New York Radical Women group. Credit: Bev Grant / Getty Images
"What's so interesting about that protest for me is also that they really targeted the women participating in the pageant," McCann said.
"That obviously is a problem with some modes of feminism, which kind of target women rather than the structures."
Protesters held signs comparing the Miss America pageant to a cattle auction, and paraded sheep. Credit: AAP / AP
"You had feminists and women's activists who were also saying similar things [to right-wing groups] about revealing the body, but also were drawing attention to the kind of gross clash between this glitzy glamorous pageant and the conditions on the ground in terms of poverty and that not being ignored in the face of this pageant," McCann said.
The feminist protest involved crowning a 'Miss Homeless' and a 'Miss Poverty'.
For the Miss Universe contest, a consistent source of criticism between 1996 and 2015 was now-US President Donald Trump's ownership of the pageant.
Donald Trump inn 2005 with Allie LaForce, Miss Teen USA 2005, Natalie Glebova, Miss Universe 2005, and Chelsea Cooley, Miss USA 2005. Credit: Getty Images / Carley Margolis / FilmMagic
He reportedly called her 'Miss Piggy' and 'Miss Housekeeping', the latter a derogatory reference to her Latina background. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton brought up his comments during the 2016 presidential campaign debate.
Miss Universe 1996 Alicia Machado said then-Miss Universe owner Donald Trump made critical comments about her weight. Credit: AAP / AP / Lannis Waters / The Palm Beach Post
How Miss Universe has changed over the years
In recent years, Miss Universe has made some significant reforms, like removing the age cap and allowing married and divorced contestants.
Ayoub said this push for greater inclusivity is one of the things she respects about the competition. She sees the competition as increasingly focusing on the personal stories and philanthropic efforts of the competitors.
Ayoub founded Sayidat Falasteen (Palestinian Women), which she works with through the Miss Palestine organisation. The focus of the organisation is supporting Palestinian women and girls through initiatives like education and support for women-owned small businesses. Its work, Ayoub says, is something she is "so proud about".
Her other organisation, Olive Green Academy, is a "sustainability, content creation and AI-focused agency", according to its website.
On social media and among cultural commentators, there is continued debate about whether the nature of beauty pageants prevent them from being a medium for progress. They have been criticised for promoting narrow ideals of beauty and catering to the male gaze through objectification, particularly with the swimsuit competition.
In 2018, the pageant’s first transgender entrant, Miss Spain's Angela Ponce, competed. However, the competition requires trans contestants to have had gender-affirming surgery. One 2019 article in The Independent was headlined 'All hail Miss Universe, where cis and trans women can be degraded in bikinis on the world stage equally'.
In 2012, Miss Universe changed its rules to allow transgender women to compete. Spain's Angela Ponce was the first openly trans contestant. Credit: AAP / EPA / Rungroj Yongrit
"The reason why this can't be progressive isn't specifically about the question of objectification, but the combination of objectification and profit."
The issue is not "parading" or "revealing" the body, but the "labour that's exploited" to make money for a global corporation. According to Growjo, a website that tracks private companies and startups, Miss Universe has an annual revenue of approximately US$93 million ($143 million).
Miss Universe contestants are not paid to compete by the organisation. Many contestants view the competition as an opportunity to boost their personal and philanthropic platforms.
McCann added that she would "never have a critique of the women who participate", but of the structure that is "by its very nature extracting something from them".
National identity and the 'Olympics of beauty'
Miss Universe requires its contestants to embody their nation on a global — or if the competition's name is to be believed, intergalactic — level.
This means it can be an arena where the beauty standards of a nation are defined.
McCann used the example of Jennifer Hawkins, the second Australian Miss Universe after Kerry Anne Wells, who won in 1972.
"She then becomes a symbol of Australia," McCann said.
“So that has all kinds of ramifications for the fact that this Australia is summarised in the body of this thin, white, very normatively beautiful woman, who then is in all of our advertising campaigns and so on."
Elements of the competition can be laced with geopolitical meaning, particularly the National Costumes section. In 2023, Miss Russia wore a costume called 'The crown of the Russian Empire' which the New York Times described as "an unabashed advertisement for Russian imperial aggression".
Hannah McCann compared the competition to Eurovision and the Olympics as a space where ideas about nation "crystallise".
"We can say, 'this is the representative of our nation', we can celebrate our nation, we can feel proud of our nation and so on," she said about the Olympics.
Her view is that "nations are imaginary, borders are imaginary ... We made them up. They're a social construct. So this is one of the places where that ideology, the dominant ruling idea of nation becomes reinforced”.
She said that this is part of the significance of having a Miss Palestine in the competition.
"It asserts that this is a nation, and part of the campaign for Palestinian freedom and autonomy is the assertion of Palestine as a nation. That has been a very difficult geopolitical uphill battle to win. So that's very significant politically and culturally and ideologically.”
"It doesn't mean that the pageant's good ... It doesn't mean that it should change our critique of the pageant."
A majority of United Nations member states now recognise the State of Palestine. That includes Australia, which recognised a Palestinian state in September, alongside the UK and Canada. The US and Israel both remain opposed to recognition.
For Nadeen Ayoub, Miss Universe parallels the Olympics in a slightly different way.
"Miss Universe is the biggest platform for women's celebration. It's almost like the Olympics of women's beauty," she said.
"The concept of beauty has changed. It's a lot about inner beauty, and being a voice and ... an advocate for important causes."
She ultimately believes the competition will be an opportunity to connect with people through the beauty of "culture, of fashion, of art, of music, of innovation".
"They can see Palestine from a different perspective."
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