If I were to be Miss Universe, I would use my voice to influence the youth, and I would raise awareness to certain causes like HIV awareness that is timely and relevant to my country which is the Philippines. I want to show the world, the universe rather, that I am confidently beautiful with a heart.
This statement might have been familiar to a few of us for it was Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach’s winning answer for Miss universe. Our country, the Philippines is known to have massive admiration for Beauty Pageants, we join various major and international beauty pageants to show the world the beauty of the Philippines. A beauty pageant is held to encourage empowerment towards women who have advocacies such as HIV awareness, free education, and women empowerment but now that beauty pageants are in the limelight and has been deemed to be the validation of both beauty and brains does it remain relevant in our generation?
Miss Universe organization’s purpose is to empower women from various countries with different cultural backgrounds but how come they fight over a crown to prove their validity in the community?
While I was scrolling to my newsfeed on Twitter I have recognized countless people especially Thais who were in an uproar of rage, they were trying to bring down the Philippines by invalidating our candidates because most of them are Half-Filipinos and even stated that we were only winning because they were half Filipinos which was really disappointing. Despite Thais and Filipinos coming from Southeast Asia, it was devastating that both countries are in a crab-mentality state when it comes to major pageantries which should have united and bonded the two more because a representation of not just the Asian country but also the south-east Asian community.
The purpose of Miss Universe is to somehow both unite and show the beauty of people from around the world but it seems like the opposite of its purpose is happening in our time. This occurrence did not only happen between the Philippines and Thailand but disagreements between the Latin community and Asian communities. Way back in 2015 after the wrong announcement of Miss Universe by Steve Harvey which caused divisions from the Latin community and Asian community, all social media platforms were in an uproar of rage pitting both the ladies and their representative countries.
Although there has been friction between different countries, it remains relevant because they help raise advocacy for those who deserve it. Take Pia Wurtzbach as a good example. She raised awareness to people with HIV and even after her reign she continued empowering people with her advocacy.
Having a representative of a shamed community like the people with HIV who are always discriminated against by the majority of the people somehow gives them confidence that someone with a high rank in the community is applauding them and helping them win the fight against their disease. I may not know how it feels to have HIV but I know how it feels to be shamed and if there are people like Pia wutrtzbach who has such high ranking I would gain not just hope for myself but also love that I can never be perfect yet I can still be loved.
Pageantry culture must flourish more but their purpose must not only be limited by having confidence and beauty but also to have heightened advocacy that will amplify their purpose to help people. Beauty Pageants can help empower children and women such as myself, I remembered the very first time I’ve heard the phrase “confidently beautiful with a heart” and it has never left my mind ever since because I’ve trusted her statement for I know that women are all beautiful inside out but we must focus more on what we can offer to this world may it be in artistic craft or in the medical line. We must encourage ourselves to be more of who we were and show kindness to everyone we meet with no judgment of who they are or where they come from. Let’s embrace each other with a warm hug and show the world that we are confidently beautiful with a heart.
