Carmen Valero Berlin (Germany)
Berlin Germany)
Updated Monday, February 26, 2024-21:26
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If Donald Trump had been the owner of the Miss Germany contest as he was for 16 years of Miss USA and Miss Universe,
the Berliner of Iranian origin Apameh Schönauer
would never have won the crown in this country because
she would not have even been able to participate in the contest. .
Apameh is 39 years old, too old to represent her ideal of feminine beauty, and in newspaper archives there is the case of the Venezuelan Alicia Machado, whom she publicly humiliated
for gaining 20 kilos
while in possession of the Miss Universe title.
Trump personally accompanied her to a gym
in the Big Apple, where 80 journalists had gathered, so that she could sweat her shirt and begin a fight against her weight.
«She is someone who likes to eat
.
There is no doubt," Trump commented, two decades before becoming president.
Trump is still there, omnipresent, but
the ideal of beauty is changing stealthily
and in Germany, the Miss pageant
no longer rewards the accident of nature
that is beauty in youth, but beauty converted over the years into a work of art, regardless of
origin, sex, race and religion
.
The most beautiful
can be trans
, as in the case of Miss Holland, the model and actress
Rikkie Valerie Kollé
;
She can be a Ukrainian in Japan, although she later has to
renounce the title
due to pressure over identity, and she can be
a mature Iranian in a Germany
where the extreme right is advancing and the ideal of beauty is associated with blonde hair and blue eyes.
See this post on Instagram
Apameh Schönaue
r has broken stereotypical beauty standards by winning
the Miss Germany 2024 crown,
a prize worth 25,000 euros.
The choice of this
architect of mature and imperfect beauty
is a call
against racism
and in favor of diversity in
competitions historically criticized
for their narrow focus on physical appearance.
Her victory is that of
all women proud of their origins,
their life path and their appearance.
This year's contest
looked revolutionary
even though the changes occurred in 2019, when what prevailed in the jury
was the personality of the contestants
and their willingness to assume responsibilities.
In this edition,
the age barrier was eliminated
, thereby opening the door to women with more desire to say than to teach.
Some 15,000 women with a lot of life experience and social commitment
showed up .
Thirty-year-old
Vanessa Reder from Hamburg,
for example, made it into her top 20 for
her fight against the pollution of the Baltic Sea,
the most polluted body of water in the world.
Mignon Kowollik
, a 42-year-old sex counselor, scored highly for
her fight for the diversity of human sexuality
and against social prejudices.
See this post on Instagram
Another of the finalists,
Tamara Schwab, 31
, stood out for
her external beauty
but also for her calls for
organ donation
.
She has been living with a donated heart for two and a half years.
Schwab is a
young, athletic and determined woman,
she suffered two cardiac arrests
in her early 20s.
What followed was an odyssey of doctor visits, operations and setbacks.
Finally,
she had a heart transplant
.
With a donated heart, she began a second life.
Since then, she has participated in organ donation.
"I can lead a normal life again,"
she explained.
Without complexes, Christina Modrzejewski,
a 28-year-old nurse who has been confined
to a wheelchair since 2021
due to an autoimmune disease,
also entered the contest .
She contributed the
beauty born of strength,
although this is supported by electronic orthoses that stabilize her damaged joints, immobilize limbs and correct bad posture.
Apameh's path to the crown was no ordinary feat either.
At the age of ten
he came to Germany with her mother from Iran
.
She struck out on her own and became a successful businesswoman.
Also in the family sphere
she feels very close to a German
with whom she has two children.
Now she wants to help other women and, above all,
young women with immigration problems.
She knows, thanks to her own experience, how difficult it is to integrate into a new environment and
a new life reality
and, at the same time, be successful.
That is why she supports
disadvantaged and oppressed women
, especially Iranian women.
Her dedication to women's rights and women's empowerment through the Shirzan Lion Woman network is indicative of the
pageant's shifting priorities
toward contestants' contributions beyond mere aesthetics.
See this post on Instagram
Her victory has already had a wide impact and
will serve as an inspiration
to women from similar backgrounds
and all those who aspire to redefine norms and break barriers.
Apameh S.'s reign will last one year.
Her agenda is packed with advocacy activities, especially aimed at
empowering women and girls from marginalized communities
.
Her victory, while a personal achievement, carries the weight of expectations and
hope for continued progress
in the beauty pageant industry and beyond, as Miss Germany has become a powerful reminder of
the importance of inclusivity. , tolerance
and diversity in all spheres of life...