Two weeks ago, I attended the Miss University of Miami 2016 pageant half out curiosity and half because I needed to. I had never been to a pageant before, but I’ve seen Miss Congeniality and Toddlers & Tiaras so I knew the gist of it.
However, considering that Miss UM is a scholarship pageant and is meant to choose a female leader that will serve the community, I expected the pageant to mostly be based off merit. I skimmed through the program while I waited for the show to start, and saw the usual pageant categories – on stage question, talent, formal dress – but what caught my eye was a portion called “Lifestyle and Ftiness.” I wasn’t sure what that entailed so I was interested to find out.
Fast forward through introductions, sponsors, speeches, and the talent part of the competition, we finally get to health and lifestyle. Once again, let me remind you that I had no idea what this was going to be, so you can imagine my surprise when the first contestant strutted on stage in high heels and a bikini. Not sure what wearing an itsy bitsy bikini has to do with health and lifestyle, but I went along with it. Granted, she was in shape so I’ll giver her that. Because of what this category was called, I’m thinking she was going to share with the audience how she stays in shape, but instead she posed and twirled and strutted off stage.
I’m not sure what bothered me more – the fact that there was a swimsuit category in a scholarship pageant or the fact that they dubbed it “lifestyle and fitness.” Being skinny does not make you healthy. If they are going to use the word health or fitness, there should be something advocating positive body image and a healthy lifestyle. I would have appreciated this category much more if they at least asked the contestants how they stay healthy and if they had any tips to share.
According to a quote given to the Miami Hurricane, it’s not about who looks best in a swimsuit but who radiates confidence. I’m all for that, but in a society where girls of all ages are struggling with unreasonable beauty standards, seeing these contestants strut their stuff on stage can possibly discourage qualified students from participating in the pageant because they don’t want to wear a swimsuit on stage. Some people might reply to that with “Well, if they aren’t confident than they shouldn’t participate.” Maybe, but every young woman deserves the chance to feel beautiful and just because they don’t feel confident walking around in a swimsuit doesn’t mean they wouldn’t feel confident in an evening gown. At the very least, it shouldn’t weigh as much as it does in the judging process. The swimsuit portion weighed 15% whereas the on stage question only weighed 5%.
I’m not saying there shouldn’t be a Miss UM pageant. I understand it has become a tradition and I do like the idea of it, I just think it’s important now more than ever to promote being body positive and this competition has the potential to become a platform for that.