Miss Plastic Hungary
Budapest has become a raunchy European porn capital fueled by a booming plastic surgery tourism trade. Eric Pape on a provocative beauty contest meant to boost business.
Bela Szandelszky / AP Photo
Participants in the Miss Plastic Hungary beauty pageant prepare backstage before the start of the contest that took place in Budapest on October 9. With contestants showing off breast implants, nose jobs, and facelifts, the pageant attempts to promote the benefits of plastic surgery in a country where artificial enhancements are viewed with a wary eye.
Bela Szandelszky / AP Photo
In order to take the stage, contestants were required to provide evidence that they went under the knife at least once.
Bela Szandelszky / AP Photo
Instead of the typical bathing suit competition, the 18 young contestants were required to bare nearly all on the runway with skimpy tops and a masking tape aesthetic.
DUDAS / SIPA
More than 100 young women applied to the beauty contest—where they were asked not to speak during the competition.
DUDAS / SIPA
The goal of the pageant organizers was to publicize recent Hungarian advances in aesthetic scalpel-science and promote more “plastic surgery tourism” to a country where cosmetic enhancements have reportedly continued to grow despite the economic crisis.
Bela Szandelszky / AP Photo
The minimum age for contestants was 18, and those over 30 had their own category.
DUDAS / SIPA
The application for aspiring contestants asked for their “place of surgery” (on the body), the date of surgery, as well as the applicant’s bust, waist, hip, and shoe sizes.
DUDAS / SIPA
Aside from the usual breast augmentation, facelifts, and rhinoplasty, some contestants had even undergone toe tweaking.
Bela Szandelszky / AP Photo
The other condition required by contestants—in addition to being surgically altered—was to display “a perfect harmony of their body and soul.”
DUDAS / SIPA
Second runner-up Alexandra Horvath, pageant winner Reka Urban, and first runner-up Edina Kulcsar smile after they were announced winners in the Miss Plastic Hungary Pageant 2009. Organizers were hoping to shatter local stereotypes about plastic surgery by promoting natural-looking alterations.
Bela Szandelszky / AP Photo
Budapest has evolved into a raunchy European porn capital with a booming plastic surgery tourism trade.
DUDAS / SIPA
The 22-year-old victor of Miss Plastic Hungary 2009, Réka Urbán, shed a tear as gold streamers fell from the rafters.
Bela Szandelszky / AP Photo
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