Contestants use Miss Chinatown pageant as platform for issues
Laughter is not usually what a pageant contestant wants to hear from the audience, but it is exactly what Eleanor Yu McReynolds was hoping for on stage Saturday night.
The 18-year-old contestant in the Miss Chinatown Houston Pageant took an unconventional approach by doing a stand-up comedy as her talent, using wit and humor to confront stereotypes.
“Growing up, I could never live up to the Asian stereotype that Asians are good at math,” McReynolds said. “I could study math for hours on end, and there would always be another Asian in my class who could easily topple my math grades — it reminds me of the famous poem we learned in school that goes something like this: Roses are red, violets are blue, there’s always an Asian better than you.”
The audience roared with laughter and applause, many in the crowd letting out sympathetic cheers.
For McReynolds and eight Chinese-American women who competed Saturday, the 48th annual Miss Chinatown Houston Pageant was more than just an opportunity to look attractive or show off accomplishments. It gave them a platform to talk about important issues like stereotyping, gender inequality in the workplace, the importance of racial diversity and representations of Asian-Americans in the media.
The soundtrack of the pageant was full of female anthems like Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” and Meghan Trainor’s “No Excuses,” setting the tone for a new age of Chinese-Americans who want to boldly redefine their place in the Houston community.
While pageants have undergone harsh scrutiny nationally in the past several years, it has not fazed the Miss Chinatown Houston Pageant. In fact, the pageant has evolved to encourage diversity among contestants
and empower them to speak up so that the Chinese community has “a seat at the table,” said Shelley Ding, former Chinese American Citizens Alliance Houston president .
“Chinese people tend to be more humble,” Ding said. “But we want a voice at the table, so American people know that we have that kind of power.”
Karen Yen, Saturday’s winner, exemplifies the confidence and poise that will represent the roughly 86,000 ChineseAmericans in Houston.
Yen, 23, will be starting her first semester at Texas A&M University College of Dentistry in a few weeks, after graduating from Rice University, where she built a long list of accomplishments.
“I was the lead undergraduate assistant in my neuroscience lab and co-authored a paper that is published in the Journal of Physiology,” Yen said. “I hosted a talk-show for Rice campus radio station about campus news and events. In the spring of 2016, I had the amazing opportunity to study abroad in London. I conducted health policy research while interning at a local hospital where I developed a standard operating procedure for the training of new interns.”
Yen also has performed at New York’s Lincoln Center and the Chicago Symphony Center and has been named Houston Young Artist with her string quartet. She performed a rendition of Bach’s Cello Suite No. 3 in C Major for the talent competition with light, buoyant bow strokes and elegant stringcrossings.
In addition to winning a $5,000 scholarship and a shimmering tiara, she will now represent Houston in the Miss Chinatown USA pageant.
Houston’s competition includes four equally weighted categories: bathing suit, talent, formal Chinese gown, and presentation and poise. Five judges from the area score the contestants.
New opportunities
Female empowerment stood as a theme throughout the event. Dancing to the popular Cardi B hit “I Like It,” Heidi Shay combined her background in jazz, contemporary and ballet, daring a drop split and accenting every “bang” with a kick as an ode to her fellow Chinese-American women.
“She will perform her choreographed piece called ‘I Like It,’ which is about being strong and knowing your worth, which is priceless,” the emcee announced. “This dance is dedicated to all the strong, independent women who know how to work hard and play harder.”
Others like Sara Tin-U let her performance speak for itself. As her straight sword sliced through the air, Tin-U presented traditional Shaolin Kung Fu with complex swordplay, roundhouse kicks and rolling tucks. Tin-U’s Bruce Lee-like moves energized the crowd, sending a murmur of excitement and approval through the audience.
Rather than just sharing their career aspirations, contestants addressed the issue of gender inequality in the presentation category.
“Plastic surgery has traditionally been a male-dominated profession, but I intend to make opportunities for women in the field by becoming an accomplished plastic surgeon and serving my community in the Texas Medical Center,” McReynolds said.
During the question-and-answer portion, Tin-U extolled the strengths of women in the workplace.
“We should not focus on gender norms and stereotypes because we will fall into the stereotypes that women are supposedly emotional and supposedly excel within the humanities field,” Tin-U said, passionate about her dream of running her own architecture firm. “However, I believe women can excel in any and every field and are capable as any man. I myself know many women who are engineers, lawyers, doctors, all of these fields that are supposedly reserved for men, but women can bring strength, leadership, poise, balance and management skills, everything that a man can bring, if not better with strength and determination.”
As each girl glided down the runway for the Chinese formal gown category, the spotlight bounced off their shimmering gowns, a picture-perfect snapshot of what it means to be a contemporary Chinese-American woman. The intricately designed Qi Pao, form-fitting column gowns with a traditional mandarin collar and knotted buttons, combines traditional Manchu attire and western influences.
‘Just have to be ourselves’
But the bridging of cultures went beyond fashion, as contestants advocated for a more diverse and cohesive community.
“Houston’s greatest quality is diversity,” Shay said. “People of all shapes, colors and sizes can feel at home. We are one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S., and with that growing diversity comes greater opportunity.”
Shortly after being crowned Miss Chinatown Houston 2018, Ye was swarmed by friends, family and media, all clamoring for her attention. But even amid the excitement, she reflected on the lack of Asian-Americans represented in politics, movies and books.
“Since I was young, I didn’t see anyone who looked like me, so it is so touching that they chose me to be a kind of role model,” she said.
Three girls from the audience, friends of contestant Carolyn Zhang, stood off to the side talking about the pageant. They all agreed that the pageant seemed to be a positive experience, boosting confidence and empowering women. Sharon Wang, 17, was most impressed by the way that the contestants treated each other.
“They were cheering each other on,” Wang said. “You can see it — they were comforting each other (the final two contestants) at the end.”
Heidi Shay, the runner-up who was named Miss Chinese New Year, hopes the pageant will open up more nuanced conversations about AsianAmerican representation. She said proudly representing the Chinese community doesn’t mean losing your individuality.
“We don’t have to represent all of Asia,” Shay said. “We just have to be ourselves and express ourselves authentically.”