...you're not talking about the animal or the shoes here, are you?

*sigh*

If you ask me, beauty pageants alone are exploitative, so sticking exploited women in a beauty pageant is just exploiting them in a new and exciting way. With tiaras and pretty dresses!

See Maria Full of Grace, it was a documentary, and it was filmed in real-time.

"In case one of the balloons burst in the winner's stomach, causing a toxic overdose, the first runner-up will become the reigning queen!"

"So technically a beauty pageant for cocaine mules could be seen as glamourizing the enslavement of women of color." - Samhita

Really? How is it slavery? How is it abusive? How is it limited to women of color?

*sigh*

"women of color"?!?! I still don't see why people see term as progessive...

It's just another way of saying "colored"

I'm not a fan of beauty pageants, so, ick. The headline on the photoessay shouldn't use "mules", agreed, since the text is that although many of these women are in prison under suspicion or conviction of drug crimes, not all are. Some of these would be "alleged mules" as they await trial, and no doubt some of these women are accused of other crimes entirely.

Clearly, the majority of the women are women of color, so you're right. I see a lot of downsides with this pageant, and only two possible upsides: something for the women in jail to do, the press shows the world that women accused of drug crimes look just like other women.

"See Maria Full of Grace, it was a documentary, and it was filmed in real-time." - norbizness

Did you see "Maria Full of Grace"? It is a very good movie, but it is not a documentary and it was not filmed in real time.

So, to put this into perspective, in many parts of South America, beauty pagents are held at the drop of the hat. I don't know whether this is true for Peru, but if it is the case, as much as I or anyone else may not like beauty pagents in general, the purpose of this pagent is probably not to glamorize being an exploited drug courier, but to provide a fun, normalizing activity to women in prison.
Note also that the pagent is for the women inmates in general; that most of the women who are semi-finalists are in prison for carrying drugs is probably because a) they make up a large percentage of the population at the prison and b) women chosen to be drug couriers are often young and physically attractive. However, since most of the participants are drug couriers, it gets referred to by the press as the 'mule' pagent. I may be wrong, but I also got the sense that it was mostly for the other inmates, not the press or general public, the linked-to photo essay nowithstanding.

This story sickens me on so many levels that I don't know where to begin. I haven't heard anybody questioning the legitimacy of the imprisonment of these women in the first place. Here are more examples of people that are caught by the War on Some Drugs. First the government invents a crime. Banning opium and marijuana was implemented by the government in an attempt to control the activities of Latinos and Asians. What better way to find an excuse to lock people up than to persecute them for the use of drugs not condoned by the dominant culture? Do you really believe it is a coincidence that tobacco and alcohol are legal for consumption and those are the two drugs traditionally favoured by white Europeans? People of color are overrepresented in the prison system and the War on Some Drugs is the reason why.

For another thing, I wonder how long these women are going to have to wait until they have a chance to defend themselves in a court of law. Three-quarters of them are still waiting for a trial. The police love to persecute small-time drug offenders like these women because they are too inept to find the men that actually run these drug-peddling organizations. The police get to pat themselves on the ass and feel like they have accomplished something. They know that these women are easily replaceable by their boyfriends and husbands. Nobody really cares that they will waste a lot of time in prison and it will have no impact the flow of drugs. Is the public really made safer by jailing these women?

Then to add insult to injury they doll them all up and parade them around for the benefit of pathetic wankers. Glorifying consumer-augmented, Cover Girl femininity is never a good thing. In this case, it should be criminal.

In fact, the term "mule" is genderless, used both for men and women.

What Miri Rose says is true: Most of them are young, pretty women, whether Peruvian girls wanting to make a few bucks, or young tourists trying to smuggle some cocaine when going back to their countries.

It's also an internal affair, it's not broadcasted (besides the 20-seconds spot in the evening news) and attended only by the other inmates and their families.

About their reasons, most of them come from upper/middle-class families (poor people can't get an US entry visa), they are mostly recruited in discos and raves, so it's not like they're poor, starving, exploited women. Most of them want a quick buck with not much effort.

About them being mostly women of color, well, hot news: Most Peruvians are people of color. The odd aryan beauty you see there is probably some Swedish tourist who was caught at the airport with cocaine in her underwear.

"I haven't heard anybody questioning the legitimacy of the imprisonment of these women in the first place."

It's because their imprisonment is legitimate. Drug smuggling is a jailable felony in Peru, and every person here knows about it. Moreover, check any travel brochure and you will see it in bold letters: DRUGS ARE ILLEGAL HERE. DON'T TRY TO SMUGGLE THEM.

"For another thing, I wonder how long these women are going to have to wait until they have a chance to defend themselves in a court of law. Three-quarters of them are still waiting for a trial. "

That's right, the justice system is slow and sucks. And these women know it. And they still commit the felony.

"The police love to persecute small-time drug offenders like these women because they are too inept to find the men that actually run these drug-peddling organizations. "

In fact, the police does not persecute -in the sense that they do not set up stalkings or raids- mules. They're caught at the airport when trying to pass drugs through Customs. Police officers don't even need to leave the airport.

Don't try to smuggle drugs through Customs, and you'll be ok.

"Nobody really cares that they will waste a lot of time in prison"

They didn't care when they took their chances. Why should anybody else care?

"Then to add insult to injury they doll them all up and parade them around for the benefit of pathetic wankers. "

I'm sure they would be glad to hear you call their parents and families "pathetic wankers".

“sticking exploited women in a beauty pageant is just exploiting them in a new and exciting way. With tiaras and pretty dresses!�

Oh come on! How is this exploitive?! It’s not like anybody is using these women’s images to make money for themselves. Beauty pageants might be objectifying but how exactly are they exploitive? Those girls love their pretty dresses and tiaras and they are having fun. If they didn’t they wouldn’t be there. Nobody is making them, nobody is paying them either.

“Then to add insult to injury they doll them all up and parade them around for the benefit of pathetic wankers.�
I very much doubt that anybody wanks off to these images. The outfits aren’t particularly revealing, are they?

Who "won"?