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Miss Universe pageant brings 'inclusive' change, allowing wives, mothers to compete

The Miss Universe pageant is updating its 70-year-old eligibility rules.

Beginning with the 72nd edition of the contest in 2023, married women and mothers will be able to participate.

Preliminary pageants for this year's event in December are already underway.

Currently, the rule only allows single women aged 18 and her 28, unmarried or childless, to apply.

The age group remained unchanged, a source close to the organization confirmed to an insider.

We believe that human personal decisions should not be a barrier to women's success," said an internal memo viewed by The National.

The Washington Post asked the Miss Universe organization for comment.

will be more inclusive and welcoming to mothers and married women," said Josh Yugen, Chief Executive Officer and National Director of Yugen Group. told thenational of Miss Universe Bahrain. "To me, this is in line with what I've been fighting for: breaking stereotypes and forgetting the stigma that our old societies have imposed on us for decades."

Miss Universe 2020 winner Andrea Meza told Insider that the rule change was long overdue.

"Honestly, I'm glad this is happening," Meza told the outlet. Similarly, it's about time the pageant changed and opened its doors to women with families. 

They always wanted to be in Miss Universe but couldn't because of the rules," she added. "These changes have enabled these women to start or boost their careers in entertainment."

Miss Universe 2020 Andrea Meza suggested the prior rules were "sexist" and "unrealistic."
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This rule personally inspired internet detectives after Meza won. Her Instagram postin her wedding dressand a man in a tuxedo on a cliff with the caption "3-09-19."

However, a Miss Universe spokesperson told an insider at the time that the image was from a photo she took while working as an official tourism brand ambassador for Chihuahua, where she lived in Mexico. 

and Meza, who represented Mexico at the pageant, had a message for those who don't like the new rules.

Some people are against these changes because they've always wanted to see single beautiful women with whom they could be in a relationship," she said. I wanted to see a woman who looked so perfect and almost unreachable, the former sexist and the latter unrealistic.

"Like other industries, women You can get into demanding leadership positions with or without a family, and this case is no exception,” reasoned Meza.