A universal hype
THE Philippines ended the first month of the year with a bang. A global bang at that, as the host country of this year’s Miss Universe pageant. While I am not one to particularly put my schedule on halt in order to make the time to watch the pageant live (except maybe for the time I had to do a research paper on the culture of beauty pageants and its effect on adolescents back in high school), I always do make it a point to find out who won and keep up with the highlights. I’ve always known the Philippines to be a fanatic of beauty queens, but I never realized its ultimate height until the other week. I guess I was too young to recall any details from when we hosted it back in the 90s, and so I was stunned at how much stopped to give way to all festivities surrounding the Miss Universe coronation.
While the opinions still vary, I’d like to think that the general sentiment of the public was quite positive and the reception, extremely hospitable. I personally think that it came to us at the right time, as it proved to be a much needed momentary escape for many from the heavy reality of plaguing global issues. There was definitely also no better place for Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach – who brought our country so much joy and pride – to take her final walk and hand over the crown than her home turf. Whatever you may think of it, I am confident that we all can concur that it not only boosted the tourism of the country, but it did place us on the map and consciousness of every human being in the universe who stayed tuned to the pageant. Ultimately, the Philippines should and can now be proud of hosting a global event of such magnitude, and doing so with flying colors.
With such a hype comes the tendency to become overwhelmed on all different levels. As the pageant that celebrates diversity and beauty among women from all parts of the universe, it is clear and has been re-affirmed stronger now than ever that it celebrates so much more than just physical beauty. With so much more weight put on the question and answer of contestants these days, although all women were undeniably physically beautiful, the pageant evoked a message which I feel in the past has only been underlying – that it takes a multitude and multiple layers of character and looking deeply into someone to become a truly strong and beautiful woman. It is so much more than what meets the eye. Substance runs deep and it is so refreshing to see that inner beauty shines so much brighter these days and is given much more meaning.
That was strengthened even further when Miss France was crowned Miss Universe 2016. To quote a portion of Iris Mittenaere’s answer the best I can (translated), “If I don’t win tonight, I will still keep on smiling tomorrow because I am proud to be [among] the [top] three finalists.” With all bias aside, I feel like she gave the best answer simply because it was filled with so much humility, gratitude, and grace – timeless traits that will always be rewarded, will never go unnoticed and which are most definitely considered universally beautiful. And while some people were outraged by the mistranslation, at the end of the day, she emerged victorious – a true class act defined not only by her physical beauty and wisdom, but by her personal contentment, which highlighted and emphasized her magnanimous heart. Her answer shone light on her positive outlook in life, one most definitely worthy of emulating. She embodies the notion of rising above failure and setbacks because even after the stormiest and darkest of days, the sun will always rise again.