Beauty pageants have always created the two sides who constantly debate the merits and flaws of such competition: on the one hand, supporters tout the freedom of expression, the importance of (feminine) role model (and perhaps of good hair, of glowing make-up, and for some, of undetectable plastic surgeries). On the other hand, opponents shout out the objectification of the female gender and the reliance on superficial beauty to advance through life. Significantly, this year's Miss Sweden, Isabel Lestapier Winqvist, made a statement when she withdrew upon learning that many of her fellow Swedes did not feel such competition to be representative of a modern woman.
The debate is not going to die any time soon. If feminism is to guarantee every woman's right to choose and to express herself, then it has to contend with some of the women choosing this path of life, just as feminisim has to contend with women choosing to be stay-at-home-wives/mothers and never to think of having their own career outside of the home. One would think that if the general mass was on the same page as the opponents of beauty pageants, then at least in the United States, the Miss America Pageant, which featured talent competition, would be the more preferable of the two pageants; yet it was Miss USA (owned by the Miss Universe, Inc.) that survived. What does that say about what the audience likes and wants?
Mr. Joop Ave, the former Cultural Minister of the Republic of Indonesia, was an opponent of beauty pageants. During his tenure as the said minister, he forbade the sending of any representative from Indonesia to such pageants; to him, it is an insult to womanhood and a denigration to the female sex. Mr. Ave, known to his close circle as a well-educated and respectable gay man, took the stand in respecting women and in his unwillingness to allow women to be judged only by their facial beauty and by the curves of their bodies. Of course as a young, naïve and closeted gay man, I thought pageants were fabulous, and for sure every gay boys would love to help the gals prepare for the pageants (and indeed, some gay men live for these pageants, straight ones or drag ones).
In college I was finally exposed to someone who was a serial pageant competitor. How and why this person got into the university was beyond me: she cared nothing with regard to acquiring knowledge; instead, she spent her days looking at the mirror and rehearsing her oration. I thought then, hmmm, one should not generalize. Then at one time I saw a forum on television that included as one of the guests Ms. Brooke Lee, the Miss USA who had become Miss Universe in 1997. I have since forgotten both the forum and the discussions involved, but suffice it to say that I balked at hearing what Ms. Lee had to say. I even felt abashed for her, although as far as she was concerned, she might be oblivious to it. Alas, I only know of one Miss Universe alumna who went on to become a mayor of her city (Chacao) and eventually a governor of Nueva Esparta; her name was Irene Sáez Conde, the title holder in 1981.
When I first saw a taped program of the 1979 Miss Universe Pageant in that same year, I was a few months shy of being a teenager. One thing that impressed me most was the multitude of languages spoken during the Parade of Nations, the part in the beginning of the pageant where the candidates introduced themselves. It so intrigued and fascinated me that I told myself I should learn as many languages as I could so that my world would be without borders; and now, although I am not exactly fluent in all the languages I had acquired since then, I have been grateful with the knowledge and the usage of those languages in my travels.
Year after year, pageants after pageants, most contestants' rehearsed stock responses of bringing peace to the world and of educating the mass about HIV easily elicits yawn from my part. It is therefore refreshing to hear what Mori-san wish to do with her time, based on what she had learned from the past: "I learned how to always be happy, be patient and to be positive, and this is what I want to teach to the next generation." With all the unhappiness going on in this earth of mankind, perhaps this is not such a bad idea. Call her young and naïve, but hey, let go off the cynicism and find something that will make you happy, and keep doing the things that tip the scale of your life balance into happiness. In her case, dancing seems to make her happy, and she wishes to open an Inetrnational Dance school in Tokyo, a trade with which her mother had been involved.
Ms. Mori's evening gown design caught my eyes because only a few months ago I spotted this same exact Gucci dress worn by none other than Miss O (Oprah Winfrey) during the Oscars and the Vanity Fair party afterwards.More of Miss Universe 2007 Photos
