Beauty Pageants beyond the Naked Eye

As a pageant enthusiast myself, I’ve created this article to disclose the utmost layer of beauty pageants. To see beauty pageants beyond the naked eye.

A beauty pageant is a form of entertainment.

Majority of MCL students I’ve interviewed agreed on this statement. For them, a pageant is an event where a candidate showcases her beauty and talent. SHOWCASING. A word that totally proves that a pageant really is a form of entertainment. Some of my interviewees said that the fact that it is shown in a large crowd and needs to please people, made it as a form of entertainment.

“Kasi gawa nung nagkakaroon diba ng iba’t-ibang portion yun. Useless yun pag walang nanonood. Kaya ayun nagiging form of entertainment sya.”

(“Because it has its different portions. It will be useless if there will not be any audiences, that is why it became as a form of entertainment.”)

“Siguro part lang ng pageant yung entertainment. Ang primary puspose ng pageant is showcasing of beauty, skills, and intelligence. Dun sa pagshoshowcase na yun dun na-aamuse yung tao. Dun na-aamaze. Ahhh~ Ang galing~ kaya nagiging form of entertainment sya.”

(“Maybe only a part of a pageant is a form of entertainment. The primary purpose of a pageant is to showcase beauty, skills, and intelligence. The showcasing part amuse the people. They became amazed. Ahhh~ That was great~ that is why it is turning out as a form of entertainment.”)

“Yung pagrampa nila sa harap minsan nakakatawa. Edi pag tumatawa mga tao nagiging entertainment na.”

(“The way they walk is sometimes ridiculous. Once the people laughed, it is now a form of enterainment.”)

“Yung talent portion kasi diba minsan nakakatuwa.”

(“The talent portion is sometimes ridiculous.”)

“Yung talent portion kasi nila minsan hindi nakaka-beauty queen. Parang mema lang. May mai-talent lang.”

(“Sometimes, the talent portion decreases their beauty queen image. It’s like they do a talent for a sake of having a talent in this portion.”)

The talent portion of pageants is evidence of entertainment as well. They’ve observed that whenever a candidate presented a silly act as her entry in the talent portion, it pretty much serves as entertainment to the crowd.

A beauty pageant is a form of entertainment.

Looking at beauty pageants, we track the transmutation of a single form as it links localities in new sorts of networks and relationships. Far from being trivial or frivolous, beauty pageants are typical, as elements of mass consumer culture, of a kind of entertainment that subtly influences the ways we see ourselves and our communities. On a global scale, pageants and contests are representatives of a kind of television-mediated linkage that ties larger and larger segments of the world population together into a single audience; they are part of a global “civic” culture of sports, world music, and entertainment as stated in the book entitled “Beauty Queens on the Global Stage:Gender, Contests, and power” published last September 13, 2013.

A beauty pageant is NOT a form of entertainment.

Beauty contests are part of Philippine culture, as stated in the book “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World of the year 1999. Pageants such as Miss Universe attempt to resolve national tensions of stability and instability through the presentation and representation of stable women, stable sexuality, and stable femininity. As explicit discourses about nationalism, pageants come to the rescue and manage global crisis on an international stage, the same book says.

A beauty pageant is NOT a form of entertainment.

A pageant is also an act of women empowerment. A candidate is a great influencer. In this country whenever there is a beauty pageant in a certain place, a lot of people will surely come. Through the question and answer portion, a candidate could channel out her advocacy and could raise and spread awareness as well. A beauty pageant isn’t all about beauty alone. It is all about your intellectual capacity and showcasing everything that you’ve got. Not everyone who win in pageants are perfect in physique, but has a perfect heart. This a beauty pageant for Miss Christa Lynd Pereira, the reigning Binibining Laguna 2017.

“Wala naman akong masasabi. Opinyon nila yun. Kung ganun nila nakikita, edi go. Kung hindi naman, edi go. May kanya-kanya tayong perspective.” Her claim on people saying that a pageant is a form of entertainment.

(I have nothing to say. That is their opinion. If they see it that then be it. If not, so be it as well. We have our own perspectives.)

Having a talent portion in a pageant is actually debatable. Even though a candidate doesn’t like to participate in this portion of a pageant, she is forced to do it instead. Some of them do silly acts that leads them to shame. This scenario leads a pageant to the realm of entertainment. Pageants should be taken seriously because this strongly influences the mass. This is Miss Christa’s claim about talent portion as a source of the ideology: a pageant is a form of entertainment.

Miss Christa Lynd Pereira, a half-Filipina and half-Pakistan, is currently studying at Malayan Colleges Laguna with the program Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. She won her first pageant as Miss Teen Platero 2016. After this win, she then vied for the Bb. Laguna 2017 crown. Miss Christa is now hoping to join the Mutya ng Pilipinas 2018.

As her request, she wants me to include in this article a verse from the Bible, Joshua 1:9 (NIV) “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” She says that this verse is what guided her during her journey in the Binibining Laguna pageant.

A pageant is NOT a form of entertainment.

I am currently the ambassadress of the City of Cabuyao. I didn’t reached this position just because I’m the most entertaining of them all. All of us candidates went through a screening. We were assessed based on our intellectual capacity, physique, and personality. We had lots of interviews relevant to the qualifications and our pageant’s theme: Beauty and Entrepreneurship. Of course, during the interviews, I didn’t entertain the interviewers (whom are very prestige people). I answered honestly and to the utmost of my capabilities.

During my pageant, we were not required to participate in the talent portion. The candidates who participated were all actually talented in their own fields. The interviews and the talent competition were held during the preliminary pageant including the swimwear competition. The preliminary pageant was held in an enclosed area and all the candidates were limited to three guests of their choice. The coronation night was 2 days after the preliminary round. We had 3 main segments: Festival Costume Presentation, Long Gown Competition, and the Question and Answer portion. Our festival costumes represent the different festivals here in our country. We were also to introduce ourselves together with our message to the audiences regarding entrepreneurship. The long gowns we wore were originally made by our fellow Filipino designers. Down to the question and answer portion, I’ve answered to what I think is the rightful answer to the question confidently and with sincerity.

This is my beauty pageant beyond your naked eye. I wasn’t the most entertaining of them all. I didn’t won the crown of Cabuyao City merely because I’m the most entertaining candidate in this municipality. I won because the jury verdict that I’m the living proof of the pageant’s purpose. My personal advocacy is Media Literacy. Not just to create awareness about rightful analyzation and creation of media contents, but also of RIGHTFUL appreciation of beauty pageants. Not just by reading articles and be fed with these information without analyzing why it was there, but think of a better angle why you had had these information. Not just by watching women or men in their best attire, but by thinking why they are the ones who are there and why they are wearing such garments. On a broader scale, why the pageant is even there.

I’m here to clothe your naked eye.