COLOMBIA 8: LA BELLEZA Y LA CUESTIÓN RACIAL / BEAUTY AND THE RACE ISSUE

 22-08-22

(English below)

Cada año se celebra el concurso de Miss Colombia en Cartagena. Normalmente tiene lugar en la época de las celebraciones de la independencia de Cartagena, en noviembre.

En una de la plazas en el centro hay algo que se llama “El Portal de las Reinas”. Es una serie de baldosas o azulejos en el suelo de la plaza, con la foto de todas las ganadoras del título de Miss Colombia, como el Paseo de la Fama en Hollywood.

Es impresionante. Muestra la importancia de los certámenes de belleza en Colombia, que es toda una industria. Según el periódico El Colombiano; “Un sondeo realizado por Radio Nacional de Colombia (Rctv) en 2016 mostró que en el país existían 3.794 concursos de belleza.”

El blog Beautiful Colombia explica; “Beauty pageants are more than just skin deep in Colombia, however; they have long been a way for the nation to create a cultural identity”. Y también; “pageants such as Miss Universe and Miss World opened up the world stage for Colombia to compete among “civilised” nations at an international level.” 

Mirando El Portal de las Reinas, una cosa es muy obvia. Casi todas las ganadoras en los casi 80 años de su historia tienen el aspecto y los rasgos europeos; son chicas blancas, muchas de la clase media o media alta.

De hecho, en 2001 ganó el concurso de Señorita Colombia una mujer negra

del departamento de Chocó, Vanessa Mendoza. Fue la primera ganadora afrocolombiana en la historia del concurso, y esa fue una noticia bastante importante a la altura. Ella sigue siendo la única Señorita Colombia no-blanca en la historia del certamen. Nunca ha habido una Señorita Colombia indígena o mestiza, aunque se calcula que casi la mitad de la población es mestizo.

Los ideales de la belleza están, así, basados en la figura de una mujer europea; alta, blanca, esbelta, con nariz chata y dientes perfectas, pero esa imagen representa una minoría de la población colombiana. Cada vez más los concursantes gastan una gran cantidad de dinero en cirugía estética, asesoramiento, formación en medios, blanqueamiento de dientes, maquillaje y ropa para poder competir en estos concursos, y en general la población afrocolombiana y indígena no tiene ese tipo de dinero.

Por esa razón, han empezado otros tipos de reinados. Al mismo tiempo del gran concurso de Miss Colombia en noviembre, se celebra el Reinado Popular, que tiene representantes de los barrios populares y más pobres de Cartagena. Hay un video aquí que muestra el concurso.

Sin embargo, toda esa obsesión por el tema de la belleza hace que la cirugía estética es cada vez más frecuente en Colombia. En 2013, Colombia fue el país con más demanda para estas cirugías. 

Según el sitio web Econ Americas…

“How did Colombia become such an important destination for cosmetic surgeries? Plastic surgeries, especially breast augmentation, became popular during the 1980s and 1990s with the rise of cocaine traffickers, who surrounded themselves with beautiful women and beyond imaginable extravagant luxury.

Luxury and women were a way for the drug lords and their employees to show off their status. Since many Colombian men preferred voluptuous women, they paid for their women’s plastic surgeries to make them look even more striking, if they deemed it necessary. Consequently, Medellin and Cali (where the two biggest cartels were based) are among the top cities performing most of these cosmetic procedures.”

El narcotráfico también influye en el tema de la belleza.

ENGLISH

Each year the Miss Colombia pageant is held here in Cartagena. It normally takes place during the Cartagena Independence celebrations in November.

In one of the squares in the centre of the city there is something called “El Portal de las Reinas” – The Portal of the Beauty Queens. This is a series of tiles on the ground, with the photos of all of the winners of the Miss Colombia title, like on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood.

It is impressive. It shows the importance of beauty contests in Colombia, which is really a whole industry. As the online newspaper El Colombiano says: “A recent study carried out by Colombian National Radio in 2016 found that there were 3,784 beauty pageants in the country.”

The BeautifulColombia blog explains: “Beauty pageants are more than just skin deep in Colombia, however; they have long been a way for the nation to create a cultural identity”. And also; “pageants such as Miss Universe and Miss World opened up the world stage for Colombia to compete among “civilised” nations at an international level.” 

Looking at the Portal of the Beauty Queens, one thing is obvious. Almost all of the winners in the almost 80 years of its history have a very European appearance; they are white girls, a lot from the middle or upper class.

In fact, in 2001, for the first time a black woman, Vanessa Mendoza, won the contest, and this was big news in Colombia, and even abroad. She is still the only non-white winner of the pageant. There has never been an indigenous or mestiza (the Spanish word for a mix of European and Indigenous) winner, though it is thought that the about half the population is mestizo.

From this it is clear that beauty standards, in Colombia, are based on the classic figure of a European woman; tall, white, slim, with a flat nose and perfect teeth, but this only represents a minority of the Colombian population. More and more, the contestants spend a lot of money on plastic surgery, consultants, media training, teeth whitening, cosmetics and clothes to be able to compete in these contests, and in general the Afro-Colombian and Indigenous populations don’t have the kind of money needed to keep up.

For this reason, other types of pageants have begun. At the same time as the Miss Colombia pageant in November, there is a Reinado Popular, or Queen of the People contest, which has representatives from all of the barrios of Cartegena, including the poorest. There is a short documentary here about it.

However, this whole obsession about beauty has caused Colombia to be – at least in 2013 – the country in the world with the highest demand for plastic surgery. How did this happen? According to the website Econ Americas…

“How did Colombia become such an important destination for cosmetic surgeries? Plastic surgeries, especially breast augmentation, became popular during the 1980s and 1990s with the rise of cocaine traffickers, who surrounded themselves with beautiful women and beyond imaginable extravagant luxury.

Luxury and women were a way for the drug lords and their employees to show off their status. Since many Colombian men preferred voluptuous women, they paid for their women’s plastic surgeries to make them look even more striking, if they deemed it necessary. Consequently, Medellin and Cali (where the two biggest cartels were based) are among the top cities performing most of these cosmetic procedures.”

The influence of the narcos is never far away in Colombian society.