Swimsuit Anxiety Keeps Indonesian Beauty Home

Artika Sari Devi looks the part of a beauty queen with her million-dollar smile and hourglass figure. And she dreams of becoming Indonesia’s first Miss Universe.

There is only one thing holding her back -- a swimsuit.

Like most international beauty competitions, Miss Universe requires participants to appear in a swimsuit -- either a one-piece model or a bikini.

But here in the world’s most populous Muslim nation, the 24-year-old Miss Indonesia faces condemnation from religious leaders and government officials who say women in swimsuits violate religious tenets requiring them to dress modestly.

“Every country can join the competition, so why not Indonesia?” asks Artika, who won the Miss Indonesia pageant in August, an event that does not require contestants to parade in swimwear. “I don’t see a problem with the swimsuit. It’s only to show my proportions.... So many Muslims wear swimsuits. I wear one swimming.”

Battles over bathing suits would seem out of place in Indonesia, where newsstands are filled with magazines featuring scantily clad models and miniskirts. Prostitution rings operate openly in all major cities.

But Islamic conservatives -- some of whom want to replace Indonesia’s secular system with one bound by Islamic law -- have been emboldened since the fall of ex-dictator Suharto in 1998.

Under pressure from fundamentalists, the male-dominated parliament is debating a law that would make kissing in public and erotic dancing punishable by jail time.

Legislation that would stiffen penalties for domestic violence and allow abortion in certain cases has bogged down amid opposition from conservatives.

Film censors recently banned “Kiss Me Quick,” a teenage romantic comedy, after protests by a popular Muslim cleric who said the title could encourage promiscuity.

Beauty contests, too, have long been a target of Islamic conservatives in Indonesia and other parts of the world.

In 2002, the Miss World pageant was moved out of Nigeria after it sparked riots by Muslims that killed 200 people, and in 1998, the Miss Bangladesh contest was canceled after days of violent protests by Islamic groups.

During his 32-year reign, Suharto banned women from participating in beauty contests because he contended that they were not compatible with “Indonesia’s culture.”

Alaya Rohali, who is now a popular television presenter, defied the ban in 1996 and competed in a Miss Universe contest in Las Vegas -- only to return home to threats and media attacks.

“Beauty contests manipulate the rights of women for the sake of commercial interests and that is not good for Islam,” says Irfan Awwas, spokesman for the Islamic group Majelis Mujahidin, which has vowed to launch protests if Indonesia sends anyone to Miss Universe.

Miss Indonesia organizers, led by 76-year-old cosmetics executive Mooryati Soedibyo, are seeking to win over a skeptical public, hoping to enable Artika to take part in next summer’s Miss Universe pageant in Thailand.

They brought Miss Egypt to Indonesia in July to demonstrate that other Muslim countries take part, including neighboring Malaysia.

They also arranged a meeting between Miss Universe 2004, Jennifer Hawkins of Australia, and President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Officials from Miss Universe, too, have tried to find a compromise -- proposing last year that an Indonesian participant wear a one-piece swimsuit as a few other contestants do.

But Indonesian organizers told them that the country “was not ready.”

“Every year, we give the women a choice of what swimsuit they want to wear,” says Mary Hilliard McMillan, spokeswoman for Miss Universe in New York.

“But they have to wear a swimsuit. Our contest has 54 years of history and in those 54 years, the competition and rules have been the same. At the end of the day, it’s a beauty contest and being judged on physical fitness is one-third of what determines that.”

Indonesia’s government has so far refrained from taking a side in the controversy, possibly mindful of the protests that engulfed the Suharto administration.

“I support the competition as long as it’s in accordance with our culture,” says Sri Redjeki Soemaryoto, the women’s empowerment minister. “But I only support it if she does not wear a bikini.”

Mooryati, a soft-spoken Javanese princess, acknowledges that her nearly 20-year campaign to send an Indonesian to the Miss Universe contest has stirred its share of controversy.

She considers opposition to the contest as shortsighted, arguing that participation by Miss Indonesia could help the country’s battered tourist economy. It has struggled since Islamic militants bombed two nightclubs on the resort island of Bali in 2002, killing 202 people.

“The purpose of this competition is good ... to exchange culture, to promote your tourist industry, your country’s products and arts,” Mooryati says.

“By doing this, we are accepting that we have entered the globalization era.”