俄罗斯西伯利亚地区的一座女子监狱近日举办了一次选美大赛，迎接“三八国际妇女节”，一位名叫玛利亚•盖潘克的女犯摘得桂冠。

Inmates² at a women's prison in Siberia have taken part in a beauty contest to mark International Women's Day." src="http://www.enread.com/upimg/allimg/120310/1_120310032143_1.jpg" width="400" height="240" />
Inmates at a women's prison in Siberia have taken part in a beauty contest to mark International Women's Day.

Inmates at a women's prison in Siberia have taken part in a beauty contest to mark International Women's Day.

The contestants³ were the residents of Penal⁴ Colony No 10 at the Gorni settlement, which lies about 62 miles north of Vladivostok.

They shed their usual prison outfits⁵（装备） for gowns and paraded in front of a cheering audience before inmate¹ Maria Gapenko was eventually crowned the winner.

International Women's Day - which takes place on March 8 - was started as a socialist⁶ political event and is particularly popular in eastern Europe and Russia.

In recent years, however, western cultures have become more interested in the event, particularly since 1977 when the UN suggested member states take up the day as the UN Day for Women's Rights and International Peace.