Getting To Know Miss Universe Stefania Fernandez And Why Latinas Keep Kicking Ass At Pageants
24 August 2009, 10:39 AM. By Alex Alvarez
As you know, a Miss Venezuela took the crown yet again this year in the Miss Universe 2009 pageant. Stefania Fernandez Krupij is, in fact, the sixth Venezuelan to win the title in the pageant’s 58 year history. She’s also the second contestant to be crowned by a fellow countrywoman at the pageant, the first time being when Johanna Raunio crowned fellow former Miss Finland Anne Marie Pohtamo in 1975.
Stefania, who is of Spanish, Polish Russian and Ukrainian origin, was born in Merida, Venezuela on September 4, 1990 (1990?! Jesus Christ.) and also happened to win “Miss Elegance”, “Best Body” and “Best Face” and “Most Awesome Toes.” Why not just name her “Bestest, Most Prettiest Fetus In The Whole, Wide World” and get it over it.
Some might wonder why it is that so many Latinas routinely win major pageant titles and why pageant culture is so prevalent in South America. One reason is, of course, that lots of Latin American countries are represented in beauty competitions. Another is that pageants are taken very, very seriously in many South American countries, where winning a beauty competition while representing your country is a source of national pride akin to winning in the Olympics or giving birth to octuplets. It’s not often people hear a lot of positive news in the international press coming out of Venezuela or Colombia, and we think most people would be hard-pressed to locate, say, Peru on a map. So when a Latin American woman wins an international pageant, it’s a way of saying, “See? We have beautiful, accomplished people. We can win shit, too. We exist.”
Plus, the pride these women profess for their counties is pretty moving. Take, for example, the moment when Miss Universe 2008 Dayana Mendoza crowns her fellow countrywoman after expressing her love for Venezuela during her final walk:
Miss Kosovo was hiding an extra crown in her hair. Just in case.
In fact, this national pride is such that people are inspired to make photo-montage-tribute-videos of the beauty queen representing their country:
Or, maybe, as former Miss Puerto Rico Ingrid Rivera (our favorite, spiciest beauty pageant trainwreck of all time) will tell you, the pageant is rigged and all the winners are a result of careful plotting on the part of certain countries. That’s the spirit!
Click Below for Photos of Miss Universe Stefania Fernandez Krupij
Miss Universe Stefania Fernandez revealed! [One India]
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Wow.. I started Kindergarden in 1990.
Me too! Also, I most definitely did not look like this at 18. Kids these days!
Stop lying, Alex. You did look like that when you were 18. You also wore that white and purple feather number to prom. There are pictures.
I was 15 in 1990. I win the Old award.
so stefania is moving to nyc now right?
Indeed. She gets an apartment here for a year. All the better to go to Remezcla parties. ;)
I don’t get it…Miss Dominican Republic was robbed! Frankly I struggle to understand how most of the top 15 were there in the first place. I am only consoled by the fact she is Latina.