Prostitutes in poor neighbourhood hold beauty pageant

(24 Dec 2006)
1. Pan right from reflection of participant preparing for fashion show to another participant having her hair done
2. Close-up of woman applying lipstick
3. Various of woman getting ready
4. Cutaway of sign for Miss Meche beauty pageant, offering free medical consultation
5. Woman on catwalk modelling typical dress from Puebla state, made by herself
6. Woman on catwalk modelling typical dress from Michoacan state, made by herself
7. Tilt down of another woman in traditional dress on catwalk
8. Various of audience
9. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Elvira Madrid, pageant organiser from Street Brigades:
“The women made their clothes and worked designing them, stitching them. But it’s a question of working with their self esteem. They are always given the image that women should be tall, white and with a great body. But no, I think that women in Mexico are short, with black hair, a little fat. Here we are all women who love themselves as they are.”
10. Various of transvestite dancing, singing
11. Various of woman on catwalk modelling dress decorated with condoms
12. Children of participants leading procession
13. Participants applauding
14. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Maria del Valle Cardenas, participant:
“I never thought I’d be in a pageant at 35 and with my voluminous body. Physical beauty goes away but the interior remains beautiful.”
15. Participants modelling dresses on catwalk
STORYLINE:
It may lack the glamour of Miss Universe, but Mexico City’s Miss Meche beauty pageant for prostitutes made up for it in heart and humour.
On Friday, 10 sex workers sashayed on a makeshift stage in Merced, a poor neighbourhood well known for prostitution, showing off homemade dresses in a pageant organised by the prostitute support group Street Brigades.
Residents applauded the contestants, who included plump mothers over 30-years-old, women dressed in traditional Indian garb and one participant who wore a dress made of condoms.
A transvestite in black tights sang and danced to entertain the crowd.
Prizes ranged from 50 US dollars to 100 US dollars, but participants said the biggest reward was a lift in their self esteem.
“I never thought I’d be in a pageant at 35 and with my voluminous body. Physical beauty goes away but the interior remains beautiful,” said participant Maria del Valle Cardenas.
The contestants designed and made the dresses themselves, many with help from their children.
The working class Merced neighbourhood, nicknamed “Meche,” has a history of prostitution going back to the 16th century.
It attracts poor women from all corners of Mexico, many of whom are illiterate and suffer from exploitation at the hands of pimps and corrupt police officers.
Street Brigades provides the sex workers with a free medical clinic, supports them in getting primary and secondary school diplomas and has
started organising the Miss Meche pageant to give them a boost in confidence.
“It’s a question of working with their self esteem. They are always given the image that women should be tall, white and with a great body,” said Brigade organiser Elvira Madrid. “Here we are all women who love themselves as they are.”
Keyword-wacky

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