Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

‘Miss Marijuana’ beauty pageant asking for 'single and natural born women' accused of sexism and transphobia

'Miss Marijuana's the type of girl all the guys want and all the girls want to be friends with,' says pageant 

Maya Oppenheim
Women's Correspondent
Wednesday 20 March 2019 16:33 GMT
Comments
Miss Marijuana describes bills itself as a national pageant competition which is based on beauty, personality and intelligence that honours 'fun-loving young women'
Miss Marijuana describes bills itself as a national pageant competition which is based on beauty, personality and intelligence that honours 'fun-loving young women'

A new American beauty pageant called "Miss Marijuana" has been accused of sexism and transphobia because it stipulates contestants must be a “single (unmarried), natural born woman”.

Miss Marijuana bills itself as a national pageant competition which is based on beauty, personality and intelligence that honours “fun-loving young women”.

“Miss Marijuana is the preverbial [sic] ‘girl-next-door’ with a great attitude, is friendly, honest, approachable and confident,” reads a blurb on the pageant’s website.

“She’s the girl that makes all her boyfriend’s buddies jealous. Contestants compete state by state followed by a national contest, with the winner being crowned Miss Marijuana. Attractive, fun loving, sexy, playful, daring!”

But the beauty contest specifically states contestants must be between the ages of 18 and 30 and single – adding that the applicant “must be a Miss or Ms”.

“Miss Marijuana’s the type of girl all the guys want, and all the girls want to be friends with,” the pageant says.

Contestants, who must reside in the US or Canada, will be judged via an online voting system at a regional state level, according to the pageant’s site.

Winners of the state level online competitions will then attend the national Miss Marijuana competition which is being held in Las Vegas this spring.

“Contestants are ‘NOT’ required to use cannabis but should be in favour of legalisation,” the pageant adds.

It announced five thousand contestants had signed up for the competition in a Facebook post at the beginning of March.

But the competition has been fiercely criticised for its entry criteria on social media – with critics branding it “downright sexist” and saying it has “outdated guidelines”.

“I was going to say that it was about as gross as having a wine beauty pageant,” Lisa Campbell, CEO of Toronto-based Lifford Cannabis Solutions, tweeted. “Then I looked on twitter and learned this was actually a thing in BC. Industry awards for all genders should be based on talent, not beauty IMO. Reducing women to objects.”

“No proof of legitimacy and they’re transphobic. Smells like a big ol’ scam to me,” said a Facebook user who posted a negative review on Miss Marijuana’s Facebook page.

“So you have to be single to even enter? That’s beyond stupid,” added another user.

But Miss Marijuana's president Howard R Baer, told The Independent he was "not prejudiced or anti-anyone for their beliefs".

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

He said he was "from the old school" but insisted he thought "progressively" and was open to "almost anything", especially when compared to other more traditional beauty pageants.

Contestants had to be "100 per cent naturally born, that’s the way they are", he added.

He said: "We don’t have any of those rules except the naturally born. You have to be single, because it’s miss marijuana. If you have kids, fine. If you were once married, fine. If you had an abortion, fine."

The pageant says its winner will receive a new car and will also get a “$25,000 cash prize & Miss Marijuana crown title”.

Its site features an image of a jeep which is emblazoned with the words “Miss Marijuana” and adorned with a silhouette of a beauty queen holding a cartoon cannabis leaf in her hand. However, it includes the caption “vehicle shown for example only”.

Contestants will compete in three categories: one personal interview question, swimsuit, and evening gown, the site says.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in