Mrs. Universe

Mrs. Universe is an annual international event for "the most honorable married woman". The event is open to married, divorced, and widowed women from nations on all continents around the world, who are between the ages of 18 and 55, have a family and career, and are involved in a "significant cause".[1][2][3][4] It is based in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Mrs. Universe
Formation2007 (2007)
TypeBeauty pageant
HeadquartersSofia, Bulgaria
Location
  • Bulgaria
Official language
English
Websitemrsuniverseltd.com

Titleholders
Year Country Mrs. Universe Location Entrants
2023  Hawaii, U.S.A. Meranie Gadiana Rahman Pasay City, Philippines 97
2022  Russia Elena Maksimova[5] Sofia, Bulgaria 112
2021  Georgia Ana Siradze[6] Seoul, South Korea 110
2020  Kazakhstan Zhuldyz Abdukarimova Virtual pageant 92
2019  Myanmar Honey Cho Guangzhou, China 90
2018  Monaco Julia Gershun Cebu, Philippines 85
2017  Vietnam Tram Hoang Luu Durban, South Africa[7] 78
2016  Austria Olga Torner Guangzhou, China 60
2015  Canada Ashley Callingbull[8][9] Minsk, Belarus[10] 56
2014  United States Sabrina Pinion[11] Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 39
2013  Malaysia Carol Lee[12] Oranjestad, Aruba 24
2012  Colombia Layla Martínez[13] Rostov, Russia Unknown
2011  Venezuela Mayra Farias Pleven, Bulgaria Unknown
2010  Finland Jennika Hanusaari[14] Riga, Latvia Unknown
2009  Lithuania Vaida Ragénaite[15] Vilnius, Lithuania Unknown
2008  Latvia Marika Gederte[14] Riga, Latvia Unknown
2007  Bulgaria Eleonora Mancheva Sofia, Bulgaria Unknown

Controversies

The Mrs. Universe organization was sued in 2010 by the Miss Universe organization for an alleged breach of trademark. The Mrs. pageant countered that "Universe" is a generic word, and pointed out that the Mrs. pageant is exclusively for married women while the Miss pageant is for unmarried women. The Mrs. organization opined that the lawsuit was part of a conspiracy by human traffickers to stop the pageant, because Mrs. Universe held an awareness campaign about human trafficking.[16] Five years after, the Miss Universe organization again threatened legal action against Mrs. Universe for breach of trademark. This came on the tails of comments made by the first Indigenous woman to ever win a Universe title, Ashley Callingbull-Burnham, when she criticized the Canadian government's lack of support of First Nations people.[17]

The Mrs. Universe pageant has continued to run despite this controversy, arguing that it is a pageant for married, divorced, and widowed women while the Miss Universe pageant is restricted to women who have never been married.[18] Beginning in 2023, however, the Miss Universe Organization will allow married or pregnant women to compete in the pageant.[19]

See also

References
  1. "Mrs Universe Ltd". Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  2. "Malaysia to host Mrs Universe".
  3. "iafrica.com Scott wins first place at Mrs Universe".
  4. "Contenders for Mrs Universe 2015 title to be shown BelAZ". Belarus News.
  5. "Россиянка Елена Максимова выиграла конкурс «Миссис Вселенная – 2022»" (in Russian). Известия. 5 February 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  6. "Russian Anna Kudryavtseva-Siradze Wins "Mrs. Universe 2021"". 2022-07-02. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  7. "MRS Universe pageant in Durban".
  8. "Ashley Callingbull, First Nations woman, crowned Mrs. Universe". CBC News. August 30, 2015. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  9. "Winning Big on the International Stage! - Alberta Sweetgrass | HighBeam Research". 2016-03-10. Archived from the original on 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  10. "Mrs Universe 2015 kicks off in Minsk". eng.belta.by. 2015-08-25. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  11. "Pinion crowned Mrs. USA". The Cherokee Ledger-News. July 16, 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  12. "Mrs Universe 2013 Carol Lee - a Queen of smiles - Nation - The Star Online". Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  13. "My husband is no narco, and if he is, he is not my husband: Mrs Universe". 15 August 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  14. "Canadian from Enoch Cree Nation wins Mrs. Universe crown in Belarus". Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  15. "Vaida Ragenaite Wins Riga Mrs Universe Crown". Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  16. Analyst-Realistsays. "Mrs. Universe sued by Miss Universe | balticreports.com". Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  17. Fox, Chris (2015-09-09). "Miss Universe threatens legal action against contest with similar name won by Canadian". CP24. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  18. Pearson, Emma (2022-01-11). "Mrs World to Miss Universe: what's the difference between big beauty pageants?". The National. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  19. Konstantinides, Anneta. "Miss Universe will allow married women and mothers to compete for the first time in its history. A former winner said it's 'about time.'". Insider. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
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