'Life is not over when you age': Babushka beauty pageant celebrates grandmothers

Beauty pageants are often characterised by wishes for "world peace", hair so big and full of hairspray it's potentially flammable, and the perpetuation of rigid mainstream beauty standards.

Yet for one woman in the United States, the format has become a way to celebrate the beauty, skills and important role of a 'babushka', or grandmother.

Raisa Chernina organises the annual "Your Highness Grandmother" pageant with her husband of 32 years, Alexander Sirotin.

"She needs to be a grandmother, of course, and she has to love life," the Brooklyn-based grandmother says, outlining the terms and conditions of the competition in a New York Magazine video.

The pageant, which was started by Chernina's mother, was prompted by her fascination with the Miss America competitions.

Sirotin recalls that after watching the famous pageant, his mother-in-law said: "Let's do the same thing but with our grandmothers!" adding, "Without a bikini, of course!"

Your Highness Grandmother, which has run for almost two decades, brings together women of the migrant community across New York state, with the event's theme varying each year.

A man even infiltrated the pageant one year, but was disqualified when he suffered a wardrobe malfunction during a musical performance.

With a diverse range of backgrounds — Chernina acknowledges the contestants include "Russian, a Muslim, a Jewish, we have Ukraine, and nobody fight" — the pageant has come to symbolise the power of grandmothers in instilling harmony within families and communities.

"Grandmother is the head of the family," Chernina tells New York Magazine.

With contestants performing in front of a panel of grandfathers and their children, the segments range from making 'the best chicken soup' to dance-offs.

Championing the idea that "your life is not over when you age," the grandmothers also participate in a 'question' segment, revealing everything from what they're most proud of to what it was like to immigrate.

"I immigrated to America at an age where it was difficult to grow into myself," says participant Anna Shumayeva.

The 82-year-old has entered the competition for the past 16 years.

"This pageant makes me feel like I am repotted well now. I can bloom," she shares.

Liveliness, Chernina reveals, is what motivates her to continue hosting the competition.

With over 30 entrants each year, this year's group of grandmothers confess: "We'd like to live until 120."