Mexico City – Miss Mexico is toning down her Miss Universe pageant dress – not because it’s too slinky or low-cut, but because its bullet-studded belt and images of hangings from a 1920s uprising have outraged Mexicans.
The floor-length dress is accented with crosses, scapulars and a sketch of a man facing a firing squad. Designers who helped select the dress from among 30 entries argued it represented the nation’s culture and history.
The dress depicts scenes from the 1926-29 Cristero war, an uprising by Roman Catholic rebels against Mexico’s secular government. Tens of thousands of people died.
Many Mexicans weren’t happy about the history the dress evoked, especially at a moment of debate about the Catholic Church’s role in politics and its lobbying against a Mexico City proposal to legalize abortion. Others said it glorified violence in a country where a battle among drug gangs has brought a wave of killings and beheadings.
Representatives of Miss Mexico, Rosa Maria Ojeda, did not return phone calls seeking comment, but they said in a statement that the dress would be “modified” due to “the concerns that have surfaced regarding the design.”
