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| BATTLING BEAUTY QUEENS Sylvia Stark is the power behind Miss Canada International and other smaller Canadian beauty pageants. But the business of celebrating beauty is an ugly one. Numerous past winners recount how Sylvia stripped them of their title, or threatened to, if they didn't do exactly what she said or if they questioned her. They charge that Sylvia bounced cheques, took money that was collected for charity, and was manipulative, abusive, and borderline criminal. In fact Sylvia was charged with fraud, forgery, and obstructing justice at one point, but didn't serve any jail time after pleading guilty to obstructing justice. Questions have been raised by contestants, judges, and pageant directors about how contestants are chosen (whether Sylvia takes entry fees from contestants who do not qualify and then disqualifies them later), and how winners are chosen (there is no independent auditor tabulating the judges' scores at Sylvia's pageants-she does it herself). Sylvia in turn charges that past winners have made death threats and caused her to be unable to have children. All in all, these beauty queens' dreams have become nightmares. To view the selected video, a password is required. Refer to page 125 in your textbook and use the first word appearing in the main text column as both 'username' and 'password' (case-sensitive) when prompted. Click to View "Battling Beauty Queens" The free RealPlayer plug-in is required in order to view the videos. If needed, the plug-in can be downloaded from Real's website. QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
Source: Based on "Battling Beauty Queens," CBC Fifth Estate, January 12, 2001. |