This article was published in ‘Spits’ (a Dutch newspaper read among others by a lot of students), on 9^th of March 2009

Misses are not allowed to speak in Turkey

 By Sigrid Stamkot

 Translated by Jan Westgeest

The Dutch Mi(s)s Roos Prommenschenkel came second best in the first Miss Disabled Beauty Contest of the World on last Saturday. The contest is an international election for women with a physical disability. Turkey won the contest and Azerbaijan came third.

Prommenschenckel (24) is proud of her second place medal, “though, of course, I’d have preferred to be the first”.

Three years ago the beauty from ’t Goy (miss Prommenschenckel) won the Dutch Mi(s)s Disabled Beauty Contest 2006. Since then, she takes it on herself to give people with a disability a new look. This also explains her participation: “The international election is organised to change the image forming of those people.”

This aim nearly seemed to flop because a ban was imposed to give the usual talk during the election and the eleven girls from different countries were asked “particularly to look pitifully” during their introduction. Prommenschenckel: “This conflicts with the principles I stick to, and with the reasons why I just am an ambassador. The fact is we are not pitiful, we know what we want and what we are able to do and we can stand up for ourselves. The effect of the ban would be that you can only see people with disabilities nicely dressed. If you only can walk a show, there is hardly any difference with an ‘ordinary’ miss-election.”

Being emancipated the Dutch Miss (suffering Torticollis Spasmodica, a rare disorder affecting the tightening of muscles in the neck) has made quite a name for herself. And successfully: the misses were allowed to speak, although not as long as usually. And there was no need any more to look pitiful, only to look serious.

According to Prommenschenckel this result demonstrates exactly why she took the ambassadorship of people with disabilities upon herself: to break the silence. “Miss Bulgaria, who is blind, told me that in her country nearly nobody pays any attention to people with disabilities, nobody talks about the subject. And in Estonia people with disabilities have to pay for everything, even for their wheelchairs, without any compensation.”

Also for the winner from Turkey, paralysed below her neck, all costs are to her own account. From the contest, the Dutch Mi(s)s sees that the situation in The Netherlands has evolved further than in other countries. “In our country a disability is more accepted, as well as discussable. In Turkey people with disabilities are ‘hidden away’. Happily the miss-contest caught much media coverage: we even were on the Turkish TV news, which usually is watched by millions of people. All these kinds of things contribute to take away the taboo.”

Prommenschenckel looks back to a nice experience, where she could contribute a bit to the image building of people with a disability. Next year she will contribute another part: she will get a place in the jury of the second Miss Disabled Beauty Contest of the World.

After reading the article, please read the questions and discuss in your group.