"Miss Sister 2008": an online beauty pageant for NUNS!

Is the world ready for a beauty pageant for nuns? Yup, you read it right, it's for nuns - those (old) women dressed black and/or white habits we see in churches, schools, monasteries, orphanages and, in the case of the Philippines, street rallies! An Italian priest thinks so, for he has recently announced that he is organizing a beauty contest for nuns (Miss Sister 2008) to give them "more visibility within the Catholic Church and to fight the stereotype that they are all old and dour".

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And you thought I was joking. I thought it was a joke too when I first read the headline. But when I read the report from the Associated Press, I knew this was no joke. However, what followed was a fit of uncontrollable laughter that I am still trying to get rid of as I write this. Somehow, I cannot reconcile images of plain, stern-looking nuns parading on a catwalk, sashaying and pouting before the cameras! Yikes! Nightmarish,
to say the least. This is the effect of many years of schooling in Catholic institutions since kindergarten.

The "Miss Sister 2008" contest will start in September on a blog run by the Rev. Antonio Rungi and will give nuns from around the world a chance to showcase their work and their image. Visitors to the blog, on the other hand, will have a month to "vote for the nun they consider a model". Nuns will be asked to fill out a profile including information about their life and vocation as well as a photograph.

And to answer the question that I'm sure is on everyone's naughty mind, no, there won't be a swimsuit portion or a swimsuit parade. The nuns will definitely not shed their habits. But it will be up to them to choose whether to pose with the traditional veil or with their heads uncovered. (Can she keep the veil but wear a swimsuit instead? Forgive me, I could resist asking.)

The blog for this unusual beauty contest is still unnamed at present but I am sure it will be announced soon, if the contest pushes through. No word yet on the official Church stand on the issue. However, the contest has understandably drawn a lot of criticism from many Catholic groups. Let's just wait and see where this will lead to.

postscript: A thought just flashed in my head. This will be one hell of a traffic magnet for Rev. Rungi's blog. What a cool blog marketing tool! He he. I wonder if I can start something similar here, a "Fr. Macho Man 2008" for priests perhaps? Ha ha ha.

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