Saudi Arabia may have its first Miss Universe contender this year, organizers announced this week, after a fashion model and influencer claimed to have been chosen.
The Miss Universe Organization “is currently undergoing a rigorous vetting process to qualify a potential candidate to be awarded the Saudi Arabia franchise,” Maria Jose Unda, the organization’s coordinator of international relations, told AFP.
“We’ll have a decision on the National Director for Saudi Arabia very, very soon,” she said, noting it was “possible” for Saudi Arabia to have a contestant in place before the next edition of the competition, scheduled for September in Mexico.
The announcement came after Saudi model Rumy al-Qahtani made headlines online in late March when she told her hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers that she was “honoured” to represent Saudi Arabia at the forthcoming Miss Universe event.
The post includes photos of Qahtani, a 27-year-old Riyadh resident, wearing a sequined dress and waving a green Saudi flag imprinted with the shahada, or Islamic creed.
Less than a week later, Miss Universe issued a statement calling Qahtani’s article “false and misleading” and claiming no selection process had taken place in the Gulf monarchy.
If a Miss Universe contender is chosen, it will be another step in Saudi Arabia’s efforts to soften its ultra-conservative image as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s de facto ruler, attempts to entice tourists and investors.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter, has long been associated with women’s repression due to previous laws such as a prohibition on driving and the obligation to wear abaya robes.
While those prohibitions have been repealed, human rights groups claim that a personal status law enacted in 2022 continues to discriminate against women in marriage, divorce, and childrearing.
In addition, women, especially notable activists, have been targeted in a broad anti-dissent campaign.
Among them are two women who, in 2022, will serve decades in prison for critical social media statements about the administration.
‘Negative comments’
Qahtani, who lives in Riyadh with her mother and three sisters, said she was in “negotiations” to participate in Miss Universe but declined to elaborate.
“I have been contacted from the Miss Universe committee to represent Saudi Arabia. Negotiations started but it was during the month of Ramadan and I wasn’t able to respond,” she told AFP in her first interview since her March Instagram post went viral.
“We are still negotiating, and hopefully it will result in a happy ending.”
Maria Jose Unda, the Miss Universe official, said the procedure calls for a national director to hold a Miss Universe Saudi Arabia pageant to choose a delegate to send to Mexico.
“We ignore the reason why (Qahtani) announced her candidacy, but if she wants to participate in the Saudi Arabia pageant, she will have to go through the same selection process as every other candidate,” she said.
Qahtani informed AFP that she had previously competed in pageants throughout the Middle East and Europe, and she posed with multiple sashes that she said she had won.
She recalled facing a slew of surprising inquiries about Saudi Arabia while attempting to take the beauty pageant world by storm, including one from a fellow participant in Europe who wanted to know if she kept barrels of crude oil in her home.
All the while, she has had to manage the potential backlash at home, especially from more conservative Saudis who are upset about her wardrobe or her decision to pose wrapped in the Saudi flag on Instagram last year.
“There were some negative comments about the way I dress and when I pictured myself with the flag wearing what people considered immodest clothing,” she said.
She added, though, that she had no regrets.
“Many sports supporters picture themselves with the flag the same way I did,” she said.
“In beauty pageants also, each girl carries her own country’s flag, so I didn’t mean anything offensive at all.”
Fawzia Ayed, Rumy’s mother, told AFP that she hoped her daughter would persevere despite the criticism.
“I always tell her to carry on, and that she has come a long way for a Saudi girl. Before, (society) was closed and strict,” she said.
“Rumy has encouraged a lot of girls. I see that many contact her and ask her how she has reached this level, and that they would like also to participate.”