While it is true that Denmark is yet to win the Miss World crown, the country is not really a lost cause. Two Danish beauties almost won the title – Lilian Juul Madsen (1957) and Pia Rosenberg Larsen (1986). The reason why Denmark is yet to win the Miss World crown despite having so many stunning candidates is very complicated. First, Denmark is one of the countries that is affected by extreme feminism and political correctness, both of which scorns beauty pageants. Although Miss World is trying to conform with their enemies’ demands i.e. the feminists, by taking away the swimsuit competition and focusing more on charity works, that hasn’t erased the stigma of beauty pageants.
Thus, with feminism and political correctness comes the decline of interest in pageantry. There are so many hardworking people in Denmark right now that are trying to resuscitate the popularity of beauty pageants but modernity has its own ways. Pageants are still not as popular in Denmark as it is in Venezuela or Thailand or the Philippines.
Lilian Juul Madsen (right) with Marita Lindahl of Finland
The second reason why Denmark has been sidelined at Miss World is its relative obscurity in the world stage. Aside from its pastries, Denmark is not that popular and it is a small kingdom (unless you count Greenland) that is relatively peaceful with not much role in the world stage. Consider this – in 1957, when Denmark was the first runner-up at Miss World, the winner was from Finland. During those days, Finland was darling of the world stage as it was the first nation post-World War II that paid its war debts. Miss World 1957 Marita Lindahl was crowned just 5 years after her compatriot Armi Kuusela won the first ever Miss Universe crown, so there was that some kind of momentum that propelled Marita to victory.
Pia Rosenberg (right) with Giselle Laronde of Trinidad and Tobago
In 1986, Pia Rosenberg Larsen lost to Giselle Laronde of Trinidad and Tobago (a nation that is a former British colony, English speaking and rich in petroleum and natural gas). The truth is, Pia scored 1 point higher than Giselle during the preliminaries. The crowning of Giselle was during a period when more and more women of color were being crowned and marked the beginning of an era when blonde beauties are no long the plat d’jour in the pageantry world.
Jessica Hvirvelkær will represent Denmark at Miss World 2015
This year, Denmark will be represented by Jessica Hvirvelkær. There are so many people within the Miss Danmark organization who are working very hard right now to ensure that Jessica will have better chances at Miss World 2015 which will be held in Sanya, China. They are focusing very much on her personality development plus her Beauty with a Cause project. But can Jessica reverse the tide of not having a semifinalist at Miss World since 1993? Although Iris Adler Thomsen was a small bright spot in 2012 for being in the Top 30, Denmark has a tough battle ahead. It seems, being a peaceful and obscure nation doesn’t help you that much in the world of pageantry.
