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Miss Colours Hungary crowned

Feb 27 07:36

“The most beautiful woman in a wheelchair” in Hungary was crowned over the weekend at the first Miss Colours Hungary wheelchair beauty pageant, which I assume from the name (and the main image on their site) is sponsored by Colours Wheelchairs.

And this was a pure beauty pageant folks, one that compared the physical looks of the ladies, from their hair and makeup to their style, poise and their ability to answer questions effectively in the interview round. In the US, disability pageants that put an emphasis on looks are eschewed. A lot of people think the disability world should move past the silliness of beauty pageants, but it seems in Europe they’re quite ok with such a jockeying event between women with disabilities. All the ladies who entered the pageant (there were 50 who entered in total) seemed to be more than ok with the premise, if not super excited to be part of it.

I love the mission of the pageant : To show that women in wheelchairs

are just as beautiful as those walking around on two legs. "You don't have to be sorry for women in wheelchairs because they can be just as healthy and attractive as other women,” said the founder of the pageant (who's also a wc-user) Tibory Kazany.

I think we all can agree at the end of the day beauty pageants are silly (and between you and me, we already know that disabled women can be just as hot as able-bodied women), but here’s the deal - most of the world doesn’t realize this. A pageant like this, loaded with persuasive imagery, showing gorgeous women rolling around sashaying and posing as fiercely as any catwalk model, can be an incredibly powerful eraser of stereotypes.

And the internet has been buzzing over the crowning of Katalin Eszter Varga, the winner of Miss Colours Hungary. At 26, and a perfume saleswoman, Varga, who has long brunette hair and the cutest bubble cheeks ever (and has been using a chair for 4 years), is drop-dead gorgeous. News outlets all across the world, especially here in the US, are loving this story. Pretty girls in wheelchair stories always get headlines. Check out the craziness. Is a Miss Colours USA in the works? If not, it should be.

But the pageant also has a bigger purpose - to elect an accessibility spokeswoman if you will. As the winner of Miss Colours Hungary, Varga will be an advocate for improving accessibility in her country (an Eastern European country that could use a lot of work in that department). Hopefully she can make a big enough impact during her reign to make accessibility and universal design a trend in her country that lasts.

Check out the pageant’s official site (translated into English for your convenience): Miss Colours Hungary

- Facebook group: Miss Colours Hungary

- Great image gallery of the pageant from the International Business Times

- Huffington Post: Hungary Chooses Most Beautiful Wheelchair User

- YouTube: Miss Colours Hungary

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1. Bob V | Feb 27 08:43

Wow, she is hot! I know that is a sexist remark, but I'm sexist--I must be because I really like sex.

2. Justine | Feb 28 01:41

What are these ladies' disabilities ? They all appear to have long, lean bodies which suggests to me that, either their disabilities are minor or they weren't born with them. While they are all beautiful and this is an amazing event, I doubt that the coverage would have been the same if ladies with such disabilities as CP or muscular dystrophy were to take part. The world is accepting of anyone who looks " normal" and beautiful. People have a hard time trying to find beauty where it may not be easily visible.

3. Tiffiny | Mar 07 09:03

Justine - I think some were born with disabilities, others acquired them. This was a strictly definitive beauty pageant obviously, no bones about it. And it sure did get lots of media attention. Humans can't get enough of beauty. Hey it's not all bad though! Miss Wheelchair America is not based on beauty whatsoever, but it gets just as much media attention.

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By Tiffiny Carlson

Tiffiny Carlson Disability buzz, travel, fashion and dating — fun things to amp up everyday wheeling life.

Tiffiny Carlson is freelance writer and writes the “SCI Life” column for New Mobility. She's also a C6 quad from a diving accident that occurred when she was 14 years old. A lifelong resident of Minneapolis, Tiffiny has been a writer in the disability community for over 10 years and writes for several publications and blogs, as well as her personal blog BeautyAbility. Her work has also appeared in mainstream publications such as Nerve.com and Playgirl.