Her heart beats for Afghanistan
VIDA SAMADZAI, WHOSE BIKINI ROUND PICTURES FROM HER MISS EARTH PAGEANT IN 2003 ENRAGED HER COUNTRYMEN, IS BACK TALKING ABOUT WOMEN’S RIGHTS, ASSURING US THAT AFGHANS AND PARTICULARLY THE WOMEN THERE WILL ALWAYS REMAIN FIGHTERS
She defied the orthodox traditions and enraged many in Afghanistan, her home land, when she appeared in a red bikini in the 2003 edition of Miss Earth Pageant. The event enraged many in her country with even the Afghan Supreme Court condemning it as a display of the female body and stating it was against the Islamic law and Afghan culture. Vida faced threats, as did her family. But none of that deterred Vida Samadzai from going all out to making a career replete with fashion and glamour even as she got deeply involved in fund raising and awareness for women’s rights and education in Afghanistan.
“I still do not know why it (the bikini) was made such a big deal. It was such a conservative 1970-style bikini anyway,” says Vida Samadzai with a smile, in an exclusive chat from the U.S. “Moreover, I had not worn the bikini to merely flaunt my body — it was part of the beauty pageant and I had no choice but to put it on or quit.”
Incidentally, Samadzai was the second Afghan woman to participate in the international beauty pageant since 1974. The first afghan woman was Zohra Daoud, who was crowned Miss Afghanistan. During our conversation, she tells us she’s horrified at the many videos and other material that have surfaced online, depicting hate and barbarism against women by the Taliban.
IN A NEW WORLD
Samadzai, an ethnic Pashtun, was born and raised in Kabul. She briefly visited India before she moved to the US in 1996, where the 43-year-old graduated from California State University at Fullerton went on to became a US citizen.
While her family continues to live in Afghanistan, Samadzai, who was given a special “Beauty for a Cause” award for the Miss Earth competition, held after the bikini event, returned to the pageant in 2004. She was among the 11 jurors who helped choose the Brazilian model Priscilla Meirelles as Miss Earth 2004. The following year, Samadzai herself won the Miss America 2005-06 pageant.
The Afghan–American, who helped a USbased women’s charity that seeks to raise awareness around women’s rights and education in Afghanistan, was also part of Bigg Boss 5 in 2011 and had acted in the 2009-film Runway: Love among Gun Shots.
When asked how life was under Taliban rule, Samadzai informs that before the Taliban rule, Afghan girls would swim in certain clubs and there would be men around in the form of waiters or life guards who, she says, were all well-mannered. “Most men were used to girls and women swimming. In fact, there were several families who had swimming pools at home and both male and female members would chill out in the pools. Once the Taliban took over, women could not even leave the house. Leave alone pageants, all that the women could think of was buying a proper burqa and covering their bodies.”
Now that Taliban 2.0 is back at the helm in her country, we wonder if she considers the days of women dressing up fashionably are over in Afghanistan. “Fashion was always big in my country and the women have always been stylish. In fact, it was called the second Paris as local women would dress up fashionably after going through the Vogue magazine, which was available in Afghanistan back in the 1960s and ’70s,” remembers Samadzai.
In fact, the fall of Taliban in 2001 even inspired many girls to become artists and fashion designers, with a trend for Afghan clothes growing worldwide. While her heart beats for Afghanistan and its people, especially the women, Samadzai vouches that Afghans have always been fighters. “We will fight for our rights, for happiness and peace in our country. We will support each other’s rights, especially women’s rights. We Afghans do not give up,” she says earnestly as she signs out.
“Fashion was always big in my country and the women have always been stylish. In fact, it was called the second Paris as local women would dress up fashionably after going through the Vogue magazine, which was available in Afghanistan back in the 1960s and ’70s,” remembers Samadzai.