The strangest beauty contests in the history of mankind

Once we talked about a flash mob of unshaven armpits and hairy legs that accidentally started online. But unlike him, those beauty contests, which will be discussed below, exist in real life and are officially recognized.

However, this does not make them more adequate. "Miss Plastic surgery", "Miss Bum", "Miss Elephant" ... and that's not all that the beauty industry can surprise you with.

As you may have guessed by the name, only girls and women affected by the explosion on anti-personnel mines can participate in the Miss Landmine contest ("Miss anti-personnel mine"), which was first held in 2007 in Angola. Norwegian artist Morten Traavik organized this unusual competition.

According to the author's idea, the contest was supposed to draw public attention to the problem that arose after the end of the civil war in Angola. During the fighting, a large area of the country was mined, and tens of thousands of residents are still killed and injured by these mines every year.

In addition, Traavik believes that such an event can give confidence to people who have lost their arms and legs as a result of accidents. "This way they will get a chance to feel equal with everyone else again," the artist claims.

It's just a pity that the government of Cambodia, where the contest was also planned, did not share his enthusiasm. Traavik was accused of "insulting the disabled" and "mocking their human dignity." The event was banned, but the artist did not give up and published all the photos of the participants on the Internet, where they later chose the winner.

This beauty contest differs from most others in that the jury does not evaluate the appearance of the participants. Moreover, their bodies and faces are securely hidden under hijabs. The only thing visible to the public is the eyes. Agree, to determine the winner by the eyes alone is not the easiest task…

We have already talked about the transsexual contest in more detail before, but the event is so surprising with its color that it is a sin not to mention it again. This competition began to be held in the Thai resort city of Pattaya in 2004. Only transsexuals born as men can compete for victory.

Surprisingly, the popularity of this contest is growing every year. Already, 15 million people are watching the events taking place at the event with interest.

But the most interesting thing is that many contestants are almost impossible to distinguish from natural women. Just look at these fragile beauties! Would you believe that they were once men?

The contest with a multi-speaking name is held in the same Thailand - the country of entertainment and sex tourism. Girls and women whose weight exceeds 90 kilograms take part in it.

Despite what you might think, the event is not dedicated to the excess weight of girls, but to the problem of the disappearance of elephants. Although the fight against established beauty standards was also part of the organizers' plans.

In the photo, a student Tarnrarin Hanswang with a weight of 110 kg. Together with the title of "Miss Elephant", the girl received a cash prize of $ 1300.

And this is the most well-fed participant named Tankhanok Mekkiv. For her outstanding achievements in the form of 182 kilograms of weight, the girl received a separate award.

The awarding ceremony of the participants symbolically took place in the elephant enclosure.

This unusual beauty contest was held in the 1950s at the Nevada nuclear test site, located 100 kilometers from Las Vegas. The event was initiated by the authorities of the resort city. Thus, they wanted to attract even more tourists to their casinos.

Such beauty contests were part of picnics, shows and parties timed to coincide with the nuclear weapons test.

Lee Merlin

The winner of the first such competition was the dancer Candice King, who received the title of "Miss Atomic Explosion" and several kilograms of champignons. But most of all, the world remembers the owner of the title "Miss Atomic Bomb" Lee Merlin, whose photo became a kind of symbol of America in the 50s.

The Miss Turkey Legs contest is held every year in Arkansas. The participants perform in a kind of masks with the image of this bird.

It should be noted that this event, despite all its strangeness, is in demand both among the public and among girls who want to prove the beauty of their legs.

The Miss Prison contest is held annually in the largest women's prison in the USA. The event is so popular that it is even broadcast on TV. And in terms of the number of viewers, the prisoners' competition is in no way inferior to other entertainment shows.

It should be noted that in addition to external data, the intelligence of the contestants and their behavior during the period of serving their sentence are taken into account here.

The competition has become so popular that it has even started to be held in other countries. For example, earlier we talked about a beauty contest in a Brazilian women's prison.

No, it wasn't your imagination. This is indeed a competition in which all the participants performed in front of the public in monkey masks. Fortunately or unfortunately, this competition was held only once — in June 1972 — and was timed to coincide with the launch of the filming of the movie "Planet of the Apes".

The participants appeared on stage in animal masks, and then the jury tried to figure out the most beautiful monkey.

There were plenty of people willing to test their strength in this competition, because the winner got a role in the fifth part of the Planet of the Apes.

The Miss Homeless contest, which was held among homeless women, was held for the first time in Brussels in 2009. With its help, the organizers wanted to draw public attention to this problem and help the participants return to normal life.

Unfortunately, the public immediately accused the authors of the contest of ridiculing the homeless and interfering in their personal lives. They say, in this way the company only wanted to promote itself, and the homeless will remain homeless.

But here the audience was somewhat wrong. The winner of the competition, 58-year-old Terese Van Beel, received as a reward the right to live in a rented house for her for a whole year. In addition, the woman, along with the rest of the participants, was sent to special training courses, after which, according to the organizers, disadvantaged people will be able to find a job and their place in society.

For the first time, the Miss Holocaust Survivor contest was held in 2012 in the Israeli city of Haifa. Already then, about 300 women aged from 74 to 97 years took part in it. Fourteen of them were able to reach the final.

The honorary title was given to 78-year-old Hava Herskovitz, who spent three years in a concentration camp.

However, the event was severely criticized, saying that this "masquerade" looks like a mockery of women who survived the persecution of the Nazis. But the organizers assure that all the participants have a great time at rehearsals, have fun, communicate and make new acquaintances, and this is exactly the goal they pursued when creating this competition.

The contest "Miss Plastic Surgery" was held for the first time in Hungary in 2009. As you may have guessed, the contest participants were girls who have undergone at least one surgical intervention on the face or body.

The organizers of the event considered that the work of plastic surgeons deserves attention, and the beauty contest is the best way to evaluate the work at the proper level.

The winner was 22-year-old River Urban (pictured in the center), who repeatedly resorted to a facelift and fixed her nose. In addition, silicone implants are inserted into the girl's chest.

As a reward, the River received a brand new car and an apartment in the center of Budapest. Whether the surgeon who was poring over the beauty's appearance was rewarded is unknown.