The organizers of the Miss Tatarstan contest had to explain the "unrefined" parade of minors in swimsuits.
This year, many 14-year-old girls participated in the competition—the lower age limit for participants. They wore swimsuits on stage, which goes against the propaganda of "traditional values." At the press conference following the competition, the organizer Izolda Sakharova had to explain oneself:
"We live in a secular society and choose a beauty, and a beauty can't help but have a beautiful figure. We can, of course, hide everything, but the format of our competition doesn't allow for that. We bring young girls onto the stage. At this age, they play sports; they should be fit and beautiful... Why are athletes, swimmers, and gymnasts allowed to wear swimsuits?"
During the competition, everything was fine with one of Tatarstan's main propagandists, the head of the TNV television company, Ilshat Aminov. He sat in the audience andcouldn't help but smile the whole competition."
However, on social media, many condemned the fashion show featuring children for various reasons:
"Traditional values are out of whack," "There's not a single sensible argument for ruining the psyche of underage girls by exposing their bodies to the public from childhood and comparing them to each other," "Beauty is for her husband and her children. Why should she brag?"
Some even called on the prosecutor's office to pay attention: "It's unlikely that the republic's leadership's statements about measures to improve demographics are consistent with such competitions. Chechnya and a number of other regions don't hold such competitions, yet they have the best demographics." [the only competition took place in Chechnya in 2006, — ed.].