Haute Couture

There was some controversy a few days ago about the dress Miss Mexico was to wear as her national costume in the Miss Universe pageant.

From a Catholic news website:

The floor-length dress is accented with crosses, scapulars and a sketch of a man facing a firing squad. Designers who helped select the dress from among 30 entries argued it represented the nation's culture and history, especially since Mexico City is hosting the pageant in May.

Miss Mexico, Rosa Maria Ojeda, presented the dress on 29 March, showing off the billowing, hoop skirt adorned with sketches of Catholic rebels hanging from posts.

Cut from a traditional natural cotton called manta, the dress depicts scenes from the 1926-1929 Cristero war, an uprising by Catholic rebels against Mexico's secular government, which was imposing fiercely anti-clerical laws.

"We wanted a dress that made you think of Mexico," Hector Terrones, who served on the selection committee, told La Jornada newspaper. "The design should grab people's attention and have impact without giving too much information."

But many Mexicans weren't happy about the history the dress evoked, especially at a moment of debate about the Catholic Church's role in politics and its lobbying against a Mexico City proposal to legalise abortion.

Others said it glorified violence in a country where a battle between drug gangs has brought a wave of killings and beheadings.

The gown's designer, Maria del Rayo Macias, told La Jornada that "we are descendants of Cristeros. Whether we like it or not, it's a part of who we are," Macias is from Guadalajara, a city in what was the Cristero heartland.

But Mexican church officials argued that using the war as a fashion statement was   disrespectful to the thousands who died, some of whom were later named saints.

"It's not right for Mexico, in an important international event like Miss Universe, to remember this sad and unfortunate fact of our history," Monsignor Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel told La Jornada. "This traditional outfit alludes to events that opened deep wounds."

The images have apparently been "toned down."

Meanwhile, the fight over abortion law in Mexico rages on:

Another poll conducted in Mexico finds that the people there are opposed to bills that would legalize abortion within the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. However, the poll shows more support for abortion among the residents of Mexico City, where a bill is likely to be approved, than elsewhere in the nation.

The polling firm Parametrнa surveyed 1,200 Mexican adults from March 24 to 27.

It found that 51.3 percent of those polled opposed legalizing abortion while only 30 percent of Mexicans favor legalizing abortion. The rest are undecided.

However, the split between residents of Mexico City and the rest of the North American country pointed to the greater likelihood of success in approving abortion in the nation's capital while the Mexican Congress is seen as likely to defeat a pro-abortion bill.

In Mexico City, residents were in favor of legalizing abortion on a slim 44-38 percent margin while citizens in the rest of Mexico opposed abortion by a much larger 58-23 percent split.

The polling firm Consulta Mitofsky conducted a previous survey in January and released the results of the poll last month. It showed similar results as only 32.1 percent of those polled said they agreed with abortion.

Breaking the results down by political party, only 30 percent of people who side with the conservative National Action Party (PAN) agree with abortion while just 28.7 percent of those who identify themselves as members of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) back abortion.

The numbers are important because the PRD party is sponsoring the legislation in both the Mexico Congress and the Mexico City legislature to try to legalize abortion.

While the Mexico City measure may pass, PAN President Felipe Calderon is expected to veto the congressional measure.

“I have a personal conviction, and I am in defense of life,” he told a news conference last month. “I have a plain respect for dignity and human life and within this I believe the existing legislation is adequate.”