I love pageants. I just do. Pageants force young women across the globe to be the best they can be, outside of just looks alone. When you present the best you (mind, body and spirit), there's no way you cannot win. You may not win an actual title, but you are still a winner. It takes a certain type of determination and dedication to compete in pageants. Pageants are not for the weak at heart, which brings me to...
The transformation and is it healthy?
What's the transformation?
From extreme hair, which includes variations of wigs and hair extensions to issues of weight or whether or not to wear tons of makeup. Are the beauty transformations throughout pageantry healthy and do they send positive messages to young girls?
I have to say that these questions have crossed my mind many of times. I do not believe the way in which certain pageants portray contestants sends a positive message to the younger female audience.
Here's why? After competing in two pageants, I realized that I didn't necessarily like the typical pageant transformation. The globs of makeup, fake body parts, extremely thin body frames and reckless attitudes made me feel that it was only right to be ME. An individual, uniquely crafted and beautiful me. No amount of transformation would make me better than the way God already created me to be.
I felt no title was worth conforming to. Conforming to what you may ask? Conforming to a type of beauty that isn't naturally me. Conforming so much so, that I didn't even look like myself anymore.
Many might also argue that throughout a contestants reign, the choice of appearance whether overdone or underdone is the true essence of who that contestant is and has absolutely nothing to do with conformity. I will definitely argue against that response. Many contestants usually undergo a certain level of transformation whether big or small in order to WIN these pageants, not because they just like to look plastic and pretty.
I cannot speak for every contestant, but I can clearly remember being told I needed to lose weight. At 5'10'' I'm naturally curvy and a healthy weight for my height. Around the time I competed in Miss CA I was probably 155-160lbs. I'm now 10 lbs smaller than that and I still have the urge to reach a certain weight.
"Aside from aesthetics there is also an issue of race, culture and type of person within the pageant world. It seems all of the contestants despite their differences are carbon copies of each other. Good or bad thing? Will discuss in another post."
It isn't necessarily a bad thing to encourage a contestant to lose a healthy amount of weight when the competition is stiff and the contestants are competing in swimwear, but encouraging excessive negative behaviors and an unhealthy life style is certainly sickening. Check out Shanay's story. I was instantly inspired to write this post after reading about her battles with weight as a beauty queen and model.
Let me not make this a long and drawn out post because I can go on and on about this topic. Pageants should be fun competitions and not grueling jobs to see who can spend the most money, look the most plastic and transform into costume. Pageants should be about being that normal and beautiful young woman all the people of your community have come to admire.
I hate naming pageants, but this is one of the reasons why I adore pageant systems like MAO and Miss Black USA because it allows normal young women the chance to compete at their best without having to put on a costume.
Just the right amount of fashion, makeup, confidence and elegance will do the trick every time. Just look at the last two MAO winners, Mallory Hagan and Nina Divuluri. These women exemplify exactly what I am trying to express in this post. No amount of wigs or hair extension, 'weight issues' and makeup made these contestants win their current titles. Their true beauty shined.
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