What’s the story, crowning glory?
Iwas once asked “What is your opinion on Miss Universe and its relevance today?” Well, first of all, I’d like to thank you for that wonderful question. My opinion on Miss Universe is that it is still very much relevant today, thank you. But seriously. Miss Universe and pageantry have been divisive issue yet I am on the side of the affirmative when it comes to their relevance. In countries like ours where strife, political turmoil and violence reign supreme, pageants on a scale as grand as Miss Universe offer an outlet for national pride where it feels as if there shouldn’t be any. Watching an impeccably preened woman strut down a runway in an extra-special rendition of the national dress provides a beautiful, momentary distraction for the everyday ugly. In pageants, victory is achieved through class, style and grace. The girls endure as much training as our country’s finest athletes, only with more sequins and less grime while trading the sneakers for stilettos. And I believe they deserve just as much applause and fanfare.
We’ve heard all the arguments before on why beauty pageants should be a thing of the past — and they do make sense. Yes, these pageants do objectify women. Yes, these pageants do create untoward competition that brings out the ugly side of some of these beautiful women. Yes, men often stand to profit from the woman’s hard work. Yes, placing too much importance on the strict standards of physical beauty observed in these pageants can be damaging to how young girls see themselves. Yes, pageant gowns aren’t exactly the haute couture we deem “fashion.”
But, at the same time, I’d like to argue that pageants can be just as helpful to those who want to take part in its culture. It’s no secret that many pageant girls who reach the level of Miss Universe are doing it for their own glory — and we’re just graciously taken along for the ride. Where athletes do sprints or suicides, girls walk back in forth in heels, feverishly working towards a chance at the crown. They train feverishly to be able to carry an unreasonably designed headdress and that alone requires a level of patience and perseverance worth commendation.
The Philippines is like a woman who has pageantry blood running through her veins. I would even argue that next to boxing and being really good at singing, pageantry is in our wheelhouse of natural, export-quality talents. Many of our biggest and brightest stars have pageant backgrounds — from acclaimed actresses like Gloria Diaz and Maria Isabel Lopez to National Youth Commission chairman Aiza Seguerra. Pageants like Miss Universe are the tangible realizations of “being the best you can possibly be” which we can all vicariously be a part of by simply supporting our contender without having to do any of the work for ourselves.
We’ve also been able to churn out pageant queens who overflow with style, substance and charm.
Coming from last year’s historic win, there is much to be expected from this year’s event. In 2015, the pageant welcomed Pia Wurtzbach as Miss Universe in the most controversial way. But when the dust settled, we discovered that the queen who was crowned was just a huge Final Fantasy nerd who had worked super hard at achieving a dream — even if it took three tries. Never in our wildest dreams did we think we’d get to see a Miss Universe who loved Jollibee just as much as we did. We’ve also started to see more levelheaded and outspoken queens. Take, for example, Kylie Versoza’s clapback against Noli de Castro. In a sea of many losses for women in the Philippines, her response to his statement that her boyfriend-less life was a sad, lonely one was a win we needed against the tyranny of the beta-male tito- archy. She is choosing the crown over man-candy as her preferred accessory — and she’s not taking sh*t for it. Bra-effing-vo!
Most of all, the culture of being the best is forever the draw of Miss Universe. It aligns perfectly with the need of some women and members of the LGBT, an often underserved audience in the realm of international competition, to kabog whenever possible. Imagine an event where it’s just round after round of constant one-upping in all ways — creating the culture of “Yas, Kween!” before any paks were ever ganerned.
But if there’s anyone who stands to benefit from the continuous relevance of Miss Universe, it would definitely be Twitter and the Internet dwellers who get more RTs and faves from the constant barrage of live tweets while watching the event. Now that it’s down to the wire, bets are being placed as to which queen will take the crown and if they deserve to do so. As the host country, we have double the pressure of delivering a back-to-back win on home soil — trust that you can expect double the clamor and double the relevance. And once the winner is crowned, we’ll be hard at work already preparing for next year.