A 20-year-old model of Moroccan origin has helped to transform this year’s Miss Italia beauty contest from a much-criticised throwback to a misogynistic past into a progressive battleground for civil liberties.
Ahlam El Brinis, a non-practising Muslim from Montebelluna in northeast Italy, has been the target of abuse for deciding to take part in the 76-year-old pageant. She says religion should have nothing to do with it but newspaper headlines have painted her as “the miss who challenges Islam” and she has been threatened on Facebook for her scantily clad photographs.
“I have never thought or said that my presence in Miss Italia is a challenge to Islam,” Ms El Brinis said in a message on her Facebook page. “I have full respect for Islam and for any other religion. Like all the other girls, I am participating in Miss Italia to have fun. And to win the title.”
Ms El Brinis works as a model and PR hostess and said her westernised family supported her choices. She is hoping to get through the last qualifying round for Miss Italia at the start of next month.