The girls of La Falda

La Falda is an odd little town, which comes alive in the summer. As we visited in September, the town was dead and there was nothing to do except go on walks which was fine by us. We headed up to the mountains during sunset and admired the peachey-orange hues.
The town’s only ‘historic monument’ is basically a dilapidated hotel. Hotel Eden is where Europe’s rich and famous once came during its hay day. It’s rumoured Einstein and maybe even Hitler once came here. They are certain the Prince of Wales did, anyway.
During our stay, Hotel Eden was the site of a puny little spring festival, which was catered for the town’s youth. We popped in on our way back from our lovely walk, and I was in for a shock: a line of gangly girls competing to be La Falda’s ‘Queen of the Spring’. As the greasy DJ span Latino pop songs, these young girls swung their hips and pouted, furiously hoping they’d be made Queen of Spring, as their mothers and spotty boyfriends cheered on. The girls ages ranged from about 11 to 14, and I wondered what sort of message this was sending out to them at such a delicate age.
Worst of all was the sight of the contestants’ chubby school friends that didn’t get picked – too fat, too short, or whatever the reason. A blonde girl in a way-too-tight white dress was picked as runner up. She smiled a fake smile and giggled as she got handed flowers by the DJ, who doubled up as the presenter. A tall 14 year old in hot pants was named Queen. She gasped, in feigned surprise. The DJ swung her around and danced with her for a few minutes, and she beamed proudly. Her school friends who weren’t blessed with those impossibly long legs or those glossy locks looked on, enviously. I’d seen enough and headed back to our hotel in disgust.
Anorexia and bulimia are big problems in Argentina, and plastic surgery is shockingly common. Women in the media are always perfectly groomed, and often half-naked. Witnessing this beauty show for teenagers made me sad - it felt like the beginning of something ugly.