I’m sure no one missed the grand finale of Miss Universe 2015. For those who do not know what a Miss Universe is, I suggest google and for those who simply missed the crowning, shame on you. Now, some people do not like the idea of pageantry, they believe it objectifies women as these women are judged based off of looks. Pageants are more than an objectification of women, the screening process alone shows just how much they care about the intelligence the woman possesses. The main problem with pageants is the creation of ‘ideal beauty’. I could get into that but this article is not about the media’s portrayal of beauty and sexism in pageantry, it is about if Paulina Vega a.k.a. Miss Columbia deserved to the crowned Miss Universe 2015.
Typically when Miss Universe ends there is not a lot of drama that goes with the ending. The winner is crowned, everyone is happy for her. There will be a few articles here and there bashing pageants and stating that they do nothing but degrade women, other articles might say it was staged but overall there is no chaos. This was not what happened this year. This year there was a huge controversy about Paulina Vega being crowned. Many people believe Kaci Fennel a.k.a. Miss Jamaica should have won the crown. The belief was supported by so many people and they voiced their opinions through social media and so at the end of the crowing #MissJamaicaShouldHaveWon was trending on social media outlets especially Twitter.
So what makes Kaci Fennel so special you might ask, one distinct characteristic she has outside of the other amazing characteristics she possesses is her short pixie haircut. The other contestants had long hair. Fennel was a fan favorite hence the controversy and people believe she did not get the crown because of her short haircut. Her grandfather also spoke out about the issue saying that her hair is the reason she did not win the crown.
Other explanations for Fennel’s placement was that even though she was on the fast track to winning she did not do well in the questions segment and that her answers just were not enough for the judges. Others argue that they both gave bad answers so that should not have been a decider. These two opposing parties will continue to argue till Kingdom comes but what really matters is how the contestants feel about the decision. Paulina Vega believes everyone is a winner and that Fennel was a great contestant and regarding Fennel’s hair she said “I think that short hair, it’s beautiful and she’s so elegant”.
With that said, there might even be other factors that we as viewers do not understand, so the question as to if it was the haircut that caused Fennel to lose will never really be answered. The debate does present an issue on the ideals of beauty, meaning that if she did lose because of her hairstyle, what does that say about current society’s understanding of beauty? Hopefully, the haircut was not the reason she lost.