We’ve heard of beauty pageants being held every now and then. India itself has an abundance of women aspiring to models, who take part in these contests. Heck, I am not even close to being fit for a model, but I still religiously watch India’s Next Top Model. Just to see how the person with the best moral and physical attributes is deemed to be the winner or to observe what qualities can get you disqualified from the contest.
If laying down beauty standards for humans wasn’t enough, there are now also standards set for animals. Yep, you heard it right.
12 camels were disqualified from a beauty pageant in Saudi Arabia held as part of the annual camel festival. The reason the judges gave was that their handlers inject the animals with Botox to make them more handsome.
As per The Daily Mail, the camels are judged and rated for beauty based on their lips, cheeks, heads and knees. Crowds of people hoot and cheer from the sidelines as the beasts are parades down a dusty venue. The chief judge of the show, Fawzan al-Madi, said,
“The camel is a symbol of Saudi Arabia. We used to preserve it out of necessity, now we preserve it as a pastime.”
A lot is changing in the conservative kingdom, with the people getting their first movie theatres and women soon to be allowed to drive. This annual event is a month-long festival to preserve the kingdom’s ‘heritage’ and also make progress as a society.
The government relocated its venue from a remote desert to the outskirts of the capital to ensure easy access. A permanent pavilion venue is erected to host the events, the cash prize for which comes up to 213 million riyals, i.e. $57 million. So the pressure to cheat could get really stressful.
Even Twitter didn’t know how to react to this news but react, they did.
1. The year has JUST begun, friend.
Y'know, it says a lot that "Camel beauty pageant kicks out 12 animals for Botox" is one of the LEAST weird news headlines I've seen this year.
— Ace in your face (@HippieGeekGirl) January 24, 2018
2. Clearly didn’t see this coming.
Just when you thought you have seen everything… 😂😂🐪🐫
Twelve camels are disqualified from Saudi Arabian beauty contest for using Botox.
Cash prizes for camel competitions at the 28-day festival total $57million 😧https://t.co/zE6U4K7aQb
— Hollie Hislop (@HollieAdpr) January 24, 2018
3. Actually, a perfect drooping lip is the camel beauty standard. #justsaying
https://twitter.com/ARfrom1947/status/956095792355389440
4. Both are equally ludicrous.
https://twitter.com/islandjenx/status/956122552669298688
5. It’s not a scandal, it’s a lesson.
https://twitter.com/MStephensGulf/status/955801562361815040
While I really appreciate the fact that the judges want to give other camels and their handlers a fair chance by judging them only for ‘natural’ beauty, I can’t help but feel bad for the poor animals who got disqualified, you know? It clearly wasn’t their fault that their handlers used Botox on them.
On the brighter side, maybe we should all take a lesson from this and realise that real beauty is the only kind of beauty appreciated, for humans and animals alike.