Miss Universe Body Paint Photos Stir Up Controversy

Miss Universe Body Paint Photos Stir Up ControversyIndiaVision News - Is it possible for a beauty pageant to be too sexy? That's the question directed at Miss Universe these days, as the organization has posed most of its 2010 contestants in almost nothing but body paint for a new set of promotional images.

This year, the Miss Universe pageant is using photos of contestants, including Miss USA 2010 Rima Fakih, in nothing but body paint to promote the August 23 event, and it has one former pageant organizer crying foul.

Miss Universe Body Paint Photos Stir Up ControversyAngie Meyer, described as a "former pageant-organization worker," expressed her dismay with the photos to Fox News: "It's alarming that this has been turned into a Playboy-esque masquerade, she said. "By implementing topless photos as part of the pageant process, they're putting applicants in an extremely compromising position."

The Miss Universe organization, which is co-run by the Trump Organization and NBC, says they arranged the Las Vegas photo shoot to celebrate the diversity of this year's contestants. In a statement to Yahoo!, Lark-Marie Anton, vice president of marketing and public relations for pageant, defended the promotion: "The contestants who compete at Miss Universe are diverse, as they represent more than 82 countries around the globe. Many of their cultures embrace nudity," she said.

Pointing out that each contestant chose how much skin to show, and calling the photos "a form of artistic expression," the final word from the organization was: "We feel the images captured are fashionable and cutting edge!"

The Miss USA pageant, also co-run by the Trump Organization and NBC, did a similar stunt and faced similar scrutiny for their "Waking Up in Vegas" promotion for that pageant in May, which featured black-and-white photos of the Miss USA contestants wearing lingerie. Ratings for the event were slightly up from the previous year.