Xiren Wang, Lili Wat, and Sitong Chen join the pageant’s opening routine, dancing to “The Boys”, a song by K-Pop group «Girls’ Generation». While the women come from a range of professional backgrounds – including economics, nursing, and acting – every contestant is looking for her big break into the entertainment industry. Most contestants said they would prefer to have a career in the U.S. but would go wherever the opportunity lies. (Photo and caption by John Brecher/Sahra Vang Nguyen/NBC News)

South African maidens wrap themselves in blankets as they head to a ritual bath in a local river on September 5, 2014 at the eNyokeni Royal Palace in Nongoma in the KwaZulu-Natal region ahead of the 13th anniversary of the Reed Dance (uMkhosi woMhlanga) celebrated by the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithin. As part of the ceremony, the young women dance bare-breasted for the king, each carrying a long reed, deposited later as they approach the King and is a cultural celebration that promotes respect for young women, and preserves the custom of keeping girls as virgins until marriage. (Photo by Marco Longari/AFP Photo)

Two brides kiss during their wedding ceremony to each other at the wedding registry office in St. Petersburg November 7, 2014. The two St. Petersburg women married in the official city ceremony last week, seemingly circumventing Russia's ban on same-s*x marriages. One of the brides was born a man but is undergoing hormone therapy and considers herself a woman. Though her male passport identity ensured the marriage was legal by Russian law, a St. Petersburg lawmaker has vowed to nullify their wedding. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Rescue operations are undergoing to recover the sunken ferry MV Miraj 4 in the Megna River near Munshiganj, Bangladesh, 16 May 2014. The death toll in the Bangladesh ferry disaster rose to 26 on 16 May, including children and women and many more feared dead as the ferry, carrying more than 200 passengers on board, sunk during a storm on 15 may 2014, police authorities said. (Photo by Abir Abdullah/EPA)

Padaung ethnic women arrive to listen to the speech of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (not in picture), Chairwoman of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, during Suu Kyi's first official election campaign at Demoso township of Kayah State, eastern Myanmar, 10 September 2015. Suu Kyi is on a three-day visit to Kayah State near the Thai-Myanmar border, as part of her first official election campaign. Myanmar political parties and candidates started their campaigns on 08 September ahead of the upcoming general election, which will be held on 08 November 2015. (Photo by Lynn Bo Bo/EPA)

An all women team from Indian Border Security force displays their skill on a moving motorcycle during the rehearsal for the upcoming Republic Day parade at the Raisina hills, the government seat of power, in New Delhi, India, Thursday, January 20, 2022. India celebrates Republic Day on Jan. 26, highlighted by a march past by different branches of the military as well as a display of arms and missiles. (Photo by Manish Swarup/AP Photo)

A runner takes part in the International World's coldest marathon at minus 53 degrees (–63.4 Fahrenheit) near Oymyakon, the republic of Sakha, also known as Yakutia, Russian Far East, Saturday, January 22, 2022. Sixty five runners, including athletes from the United Arab Emirates, United States and Belarus, started the run at extremely low temperature in Oymyakon, Yakutia's Pole of Cold. The international team of men and women ran full distance and half-marathon. (Photo by Ivan Nikiforov/AP Photo)

A staff of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games holds a placard reading “Mask on” as USA's players react after their defeat in the women's gold medal match of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games ice hockey competition between Canada and USA, at the Wukesong Sports Centre in Beijing on February 17, 2022. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP Photo)