A Mexican beauty queen is redesigning her dress to tone down its … violent historical imagery.
In preparation for the Miss Universe Pageant to be held in May in Mexico City, Miss Mexico, Rosa Maria Ojeda chose a dress belted with bullets, decorated with rosaries, scapulars and crucifixes and depicting scenes of hangings. The dress, cut from a traditional natural cotton called manta, illustrates scenes from the 1926-29 Cristero war, in which Roman Catholic rebels rose up against the Mexican government for imposing anti-clerical laws. By the time of this bloody conflict, only a few hundred priests remained in Mexico.
Among the images on the dress are scenes of Roman Catholic rebels hanging from posts, and a man facing a firing squad. The designers who helped Ojeda choose this dress over thirty other options felt the dress was representative of Mexico’s culture and history. Designer Maria del Rayo Macias told La Jornada newspaper: “We are descendants of Cristeros. Whether we like it or not, it’s a part of who we are.”
Many Mexicans, however, have expressed outrage over a fashion choice they see as in poor taste. Critics say the floor-length dress glorifies violence. They feel the Miss Universe pageant is not the place “to remember this sad and unfortunate fact of our history,” as Monsignor Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel is quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
Those against the dress prefer Mexico to be shown as something other than a country with a violent past. Mexican church officials argue that using images of war as a fashion statement is disrespectful to the thousands who died during the war, some of whom were later named as saints. Some Mexicans feel that recalling this particular point in history is troubling at a time when the role of the Catholic Church in politics is being debated, as it lobbies against a plan to legalize abortion.
Jornada columnist Jorge Camil has said a dress is not the place to recount a historical event. “A beauty contest is very far from being the right place to vent political and religious ideologies.” The dress in question is being modified to address the concerns raised.
This article was published Thursday, April 26, 2007.
