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This Beauty Contest Was Shut Down for Being Too Sexist

Women's groups are divided over whether to support or oppose "Miss Bim Bim." (Photo: Getty)
Women’s groups are divided over whether to support or oppose “Miss Bim-Bim.” (Photo: Getty)

A West African beauty contest that judges women based on the size of their rear ends is officially history. “Miss Bim-Bim,” an event that takes place in Burkina Faso, has been canceled by the nation’s government for objectifying women, according to the Guardian.

Minister Laure Zongo’s decision came after an advertisement for the third annual beauty contest sparked a social media backlash, according to the publication. The ad featured images of two women with retouched backsides and offered high-end prizes, such as a motorcycle and a flat-panel TV, as rewards. And the competition is not unprecedented: Other nations in West Africa hold contests similar to “Miss Bim-Bim,” which was actually inspired by an event in Brazil that focuses on large butts.

“Our role is to do everything to avoid damaging the image of women,” said Zongo, who specializes in women’s affairs, when announcing her decision to ban the event. The head of Burkina Faso’s High Council for Communications, Nathalie Some, also stepped in with a call to action for people in advertising, the media, and the arts to protect the rights of women and girls, according to the Guardian.

In an unexpected turn, women’s rights groups are now torn about whether to oppose or support the event, according to the Guardian. After all, some argue, the contest celebrates voluptuous women and is inclusive of larger body types. That said, “while they welcome the shift away from the unnaturally thin female shapes promoted by the global fashion industry, they deplore the emphasis on men judging women’s body shapes,” said the Guardian.

The founder of “Miss Bim-Bim,” a man named Hamado Doambahe, denies the claims of misogyny. “Miss Bim-Bim means a woman of great corpulence,” he told the French radio station RFI. “Women parading in traditional dress and not with light clothes. And I think that rather adds value to women,” he said, arguing that the women are fully clothed in customary garb instead of scantily clad.

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