Beauty With a Purpose

It is very easy to fall into the rabbit hole of society’s stereotypes. One AUA student, in particular, let her interests lead her toward finding something she never expected to discover in the rabbit hole.

Mirna Bzdigian, EC junior, was curiously exploring different fields and volunteering when she got a life-changing opportunity. Since her first year at AUA, she has been in various volunteering programs, searching for what is meant for her. At first, she applied as a volunteer at Miss Armenia’s organization. The organization’s director noticed Mirna and suggested she participate as a contestant.

“I never imagined myself as a contestant,” explained Mirna. “But after I did my research, I realized it is so much more than beauty. She mentioned that it comes from your background, determination, and what you will do with your title.

Mirna always imagined herself as a model but never thought she could work in the beauty industry. After exploring the field better, she realized she could contribute much more. “I was doing part-time modeling and small shoots, but when I got there, I realized I loved doing what was required of me,” shared Mirna.

Considering that she was only 19 with little experience at beauty pageants, she didn’t think she would win but was determined to try. “I come from Syria and I lived through war for six to seven years,” she shared. Her message was about having strength and determination no matter the hardships in life. “We were in danger every day. It was really hard,” Mirna recalled. She stopped attending school during the war and was always at the house. She considers herself a lucky survivor.

She shared her war stories throughout the contest with a large international audience. “You are opening wounds that you have nearly covered. It’s really painful,” detailed Mirna. These experiences have made her stronger and she hopes her story can inspire others. While children at the age of ten think about toys and games, Mirna, at that age, was worrying about if she and her family were going to stay alive or not.

Mirna’s hardships helped her uniquely represent her nation. “The international competition had a project where you needed to use your beauty with a purpose,” explained Mirna. Typically examples of the project were making donations and helping those in need. “We had so many wounded soldiers after the Artsakh war and I wanted to do something where we could show people how the war had affected us,” she said.

Mirna traveled to the regions in Armenia, met with victims of the war and raised awareness about the different surgical procedures they could undergo to replace their lost body parts. “We need help to continue with this project. I’m not giving up on it,” said Mirna. When she presented the project to Miss World, the judges were really inspired, but that wasn’t enough to get her to the semi-finals.

The challenging part is that beauty pageants are unfortunately not a big thing in Armenia. “There is this stereotype that if women have the looks, they don’t have the intelligence. People don’t believe that this competition is so much more than beauty. They don’t understand that the contestant has a purpose and they can do something globally. It would be a great place to represent Armenia,” explained Mirna.

According to her, beauty pageants are perceived differently. She strongly wishes that people understand that women can be intelligent and beautiful.

“You represent yourself and your personality in the beauty industry. Physical appearance isn’t as important as the message you want to give.” She mentioned that the organization greatly emphasizes the contestant’s backgrounds, life experiences and the languages they speak.

“I participated in the sports round of the competition and I got top five, so it was great.” She has been a professional swimmer in Syria and was part of Syria’s National Swimming team. She broke the national record when she was 15 years old and kept that record for years. She knew the huge responsibility and what it would mean to hold the Miss World title. Mirna took a gap semester from AUA to dedicate time to her new role as Miss World 2021.

She shared that her family, friends and AUA professors have supported her journey as Miss World, making her experience memorable.

Mirna believes that Armenia needs to support these pageants because they have great potential to bring the country more recognition. She believes that if just once we had a winner from Armenia, the world would know so much more about the country.

Beauty pageants have a huge audience and are an excellent platform for representation. Mirna hopes that in the future, Armenia will continue to have a stronger representation and bring Armenia the recognition it deserves.