Pageant Hopes to Debunk Misconceptions About Arab American Women

posted on: Jul 5, 2012

A pageant being held in Scottsdale next week aims to do more than just crown a new beauty queen. It’s hoping to debunk myths and misconceptions about Arab American women living in the U.S.

The Miss Arab U.S.A. Pageant will feature 20 Arab American women competing for the title. Officials hope to show the valley and the country what being an Arab woman is really like.

The pageant will feature similar categories that you’d see in other pageants, but there are some differences in keeping with Arab traditions.

Instead of a swimsuit competition, the women will wear traditional garments, all in the hopes of educating a public that may be getting the wrong message about the culture.

Miss Arab U.S.A. founder Ashraf Elgamal says the mission is to promote the Arab culture and to present the Arab woman in the community in a good way.

“It’s not everything you see in the media,” he said. “Sometimes people think they’re still riding camels over there, it’s not true.”

There are 22 Arab nations and 20 of them will be represented at the pageant.

“We are blessed to be here in a country, to have a right to think what we want to think and say what we want to say and there’s a lot of countries in the Middle East where women don’t have that right,” said Suzanne Aslam, an Arizona resident representing Palestine. “I’m grateful to celebrate Independence Day and be free, but also a good opportunity to show women in the Middle East and that they can be proud of who they are and not be so afraid.”

Are there misconceptions about women in the U.S. who are Arab and American?

Aslam says, “I think there used to be maybe five, 10 years ago..but people are more open minded and I think social media allows people to see that we are just average girls. We’re on Facebook like everyone else, taking funny pics like everyone else. I think people are a lot more aware.

Miss Arab USA Pageant
July 14
Talking Stick Resort
9800 East Indian Bend
Scottsdale, AZ 85256
www.missarab.org

Kari Lake
FOX 10 News