When beauty queens misbehave!
WHAT LIES BEHIND THE POWDER AND PAINT, THE SILK AND THE SASHES? WHAT’S TRUE BEAUTY?
Pageant season is back. And one in particular has been the subject of daily news reports and social media feeds. In an embarrassing incident Caroline Jurie, the 2020 Mrs. World, winner grabbed the crown from the 2021 Mrs. Sri Lanka winner, who she claimed was divorced, in violation of pageant rules.
Pushpika de Silva had just been crowned Mrs. Sri Lanka World at a pageant in Colombo when Jurie, the 2020 Mrs. World winner, announced on stage that “there is a rule that you have to be married and not divorced. So I’m taking my first step saying that the crown goes to the first runner-up.” Then Jurie, along with former model Chula Padmendra, forcibly removed the winner’s crown and placed it on the head of the first runner-up, declaring her the winner. De Silva left the stage as Jurie pumped her fist in the air victoriously.
Following the ruckus, Jurie and Padmendra were arrested by Colombo police for damaging property at Nelum Pokuna Theatre, the pageant venue, and injuring a contestant. But not before a video of the bizarre incident went viral on social media.
“I don’t think a woman’s selfworth
should be defined by her marital status. The fact that it was even up for question is completely unreasonable. As women, we always talk about supporting
each other and we are very happy to announce it on social media with pictures. But when it comes to actually putting your words into action, we see a lot of
contradiction,” rages Nikhila Palat, CEO, Katalyst Reputation Management.
These beauty queens, who have an elevated platform to showcase what it is to be an ideal woman, choose to misuse that platform with their narrow-minded outlook,” she adds.
Poignantly, the incident mimics another incident from the 1970 Miss World contest, when a protest by feminists left the host, American comedy legend Bob Hope, covered in flour. The incident later became the premise for the British comedy, Misbehaviour, starring Keira Knightley and Jessie Buckley.
“It’s extremely disgraceful on the part of [the former] Mrs. World to publicly humiliate and snatch someone’s crown on stage. It is clearly a cry for attention and not in good taste at all. We have all been taught from day one, that ‘The show must go on.’ Moreover, a beauty queen is taught and should have love, kindness and patience in her to be called a true queen. Such learnings or teachings are a must before you enter the show business. Feral behaviour takes you nowhere,” asserts Shamita Singha former Miss India Earth (2001) and founder of The Refinery, a pageant training and grooming academy.
NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT
Beauty pageants have seen their fair share of missteps by the misses. Just recently Mexican beauty queen 25-year-old Laura Mojica Romero was arrested on suspicion of being involved with a kidnapping gang. If convicted of the charges she could face 50 years behind bars. Romero is currently detained in Huatusco. In December 2019, a former Miss Kentucky was sentenced to two years in prison after she admitted to sending nude photos of herself to a 15-year-old. The Miss USA 1994 was arrested for taking
a fellow passenger's $200 headphones set at LAX in November 2016. Parker allegedly removed the earbuds from the TSA passenger screening area; the item's owner identified her and she was removed from the flight.
It's not been all roses and tiaras for several others too. Recently, Miss Papua New Guinea 2019, Lucy Maino, was stripped of her crown after a TikTok video of her twerking went viral on social media. The 25-year-old pageant winner faced intense online harassment after she shared the video of herself. The video was downloaded from her account and widely circulated. The general feeling was that it was not fit for a role model to share a video of herself dancing that way.
WHAT’S WRONG WITH BEAUTY PAGEANTS?
It’s difficult not to be skeptical of competitions that champion looks above all else (and pageants do, no matter how much organisers protest against that suggestion). Apart from judging women on their ability to twirl, sashay and pout better than the other gorgeous women in the room (all of whom are possibly aspiring doctors, pilots, lawyers and entrepreneurs) these pageants have been debunked for unrealistically upholding near--impossible standards of body and beauty that the majority of people fall short of. “If a beauty queen’s duty is to get involved in world issues, what is the point of the swimsuit and evening gown competitions?” asks Seema Singh a media professional.
Though these contests have always been controversial some do believe they give a platform for the girls to be heard on different levels and most importantly, it places them in leadership and mentorship roles. “I am 5'4 and I would have never thought that I would qualify for a beauty pageant; yet I did. Over the past few years, I have seen the pageant industry become more inclusive. It is refreshing to see different types of beauty pageants emerging for married women, for differently-abled, and so on, which empower women and redefine the idea of what is deemed beautiful,” says Shrima Rai former Gladrags Mrs India Globe 2009. Rai gave up a successful career in banking to become a digital influencer and share her insights on all things beauty, fashion, parenting and lifestyle.
ARE BEAUTY PAGEANTS RELEVANT?
They are, believes Palat, if you look at them as finishing schools. “Pageants empower women to feel secure in their bodies, it gives them hope and grooms them to speak in public forums. And for those watching it on their television sets it offers the luxury to dream.”
Whichever side you belong to, if you think that the young women vying for the title will look more like your friends and neighbours this year, think again. It will be a long time before standards in pageantry expand beyond the realms of tight-fitting gowns and impossibly expensive diamondencrusted crowns.