MISS Ability Beauty Pageant

Posted by Deanna Couras Goodson Jan 4, 2007

Over on Suite 101's Accessible Travel topic, writer Jill Browne has posted a story about a surprise hit Dutch reality TV show called MISS Ability. The show was developed by a Dutch company called Absolutely Independent.

The show had top ratings – 25 percent of the viewers - in the Netherlands when it first aired, and now broadcasters around the world are buying the rights to make their own national versions.

MISS Ability is a beauty pageant for women with a visible disability. The show's concept has attracted some controversy: does it help or hurt persons with disabilities? Some say it's exploitation, some say it's empowerment.

As Browne pointed out in her article, the winner of the first competition in the Netherlands certainly didn't get a lot of glory from the show's promoters. The press release from Absolutely Independent announcing the winner had a story about the Dutch Prime Minister presenting her award, and inviting her to address the Dutch Parliament on disability issues. However, that same press release didn't even include the woman's name.

The show is bound to attract attention, and has reportedly been sold already in Britain, Germany and the U.S.