Epress.am News from Armenia
On Sept. 29, RA Ministry of Diaspora announced plans to organize a “Miss Armenian” beauty contest, in which Diasporan and local Armenian women can participate, with the final taking place in Yerevan.
According to the minister, in addition to being beautiful, contestants are expected to have ‘mastered’ the Armenian language, to be familiar with Armenian cuisine (including how to cook Armenian food), and to top it off, to “preserve the image of an Armenian woman.”
Upon Epress.am’s request, Hakobyan attempted to explain what defines “the image of an Armenian woman.”
“To tell you the truth, I don’t accept filthy, ill-mannered girls,” promised the minister. According to her, a woman must be “modest.”
“I also don’t accept journalists who raise their pens and attempt to write filth about the traditional Armenian image in the papers,” concluded the diaspora minister.
Continuing, Hakobyan informed the Epress.am journalist that the beauty contest is organized upon request by Armenian Diasporan youth:
“That means youth activity on the spot, attitude toward the homeland, it means strengthening ties between Diaspora and Diaspora, strengthening ties between Armenian and Diasporan youth.”
The minister said that professional agencies are organizing the contest and they will develop the criteria.
“Really good things can be portrayed in these processes of globalization, while the bad is not reproduced. The world is changing very quickly, it’s getting smaller. We can see and comprehend all the social phenomena of different countries, but the traditional Armenian woman is a good mother, a good daughter, a good wife. All her actions, really, are balanced and measured,” she said, expressing a wish that the Armenian woman always “be within [her] limits.”