Miss World Contest Ditches Bikini Competition for "Conservative Beach Sarong" Smackdown!

Via Mary Katherine Ham at the indispensable Hot Air comes news of how the Miss World beauty contest is getting jiggy with…"conservative beach sarongs."

It turns out that the competition, which is being held in Jakarta, Indonesia, in September, felt the heat from Islamic preachers:

"That contest is just an excuse to show women's body parts that should remain covered," said Mukri Aji, a prominent cleric from West Java province's MUI branch. "It's against Islamic teachings."

Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, a hardline Islamic group, said it planned to stage a protest and called for the competition to be moved elsewhere.

Ham notes:

This will be the first time Miss World contestants have not donned bikinis since 1950, but methinks we won't hear much about it from the "turn back the clock" crowd, which thinks a birth control copay is tantamount to the ignominy of a dowry negotiation. I was never a pageant participant and have certain reservations about them, but it's not a victory for the ladies if these decisions come at the puritanical, patriarchal, and occasionally violent whims of a bunch of dudes. Lady Gaga canceled a concert in Indonesia last year amid threats from the Islamist community, which dubbed her a "devil's messenger" in "bra and panties," which should totally have become a single by now! J-Lo covered herself and all her dancers before a Jakarta performance.

Read her whole entry, which includes a link to the newest GoRemy video, "Just Dance (Saudi Version). Take a look below: