If watching the Miss Universe pageant isn’t your thing, perhaps you should give Russia’s Miss Spring a try. This prison beauty competition is likely the only pageant in the world where contestants don’t say a thing about world peace.
Each year, a handful of female inmates compete for a chance at early release at UF 91/9, an all-women’s prison located deep in the heart of Siberia. Life is dull at the isolated women’s prison, and officials originally created the pageant to give the more than 1,000 inmates something to look forward to. While the competition was slow to catch on, today’s inmates spend several weeks planning and preparing for the popular pageant.
The rules of Miss Spring are simple. Women from each of the prison’s nine units elect one woman to represent the unit and then assist the nominee in creating costumes for the pageants three categories: “Greek Goddesses,” “Flower Gowns,” and “Imaginary Uniforms.” The inmates craft costumes from whatever materials they can find, resulting in some rather interesting creations. The first Miss Spring made her dress out of plastic bags. Several guards and unit chiefs judge the competition.
The pageant has drawn considerable national and international attention over the years. Local stations have broadcast the pageant on TV for some time. In 2007, producers Irina Vodar and Raphaela Neihausen released a documentary entitled Miss Gulag. Last year, US magazine Marie Claire published a feature article about the competition and BBC aired a special report.
It seems even in prison, Russian women are hot.
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