It’s easy to get completely lost in the media’s view of beauty pageants; from Toddlers in Tiaras to the Miss Universe 2015 wrong winner announcement, these hardly promote pageants and quite frankly give people the wrong impression.
Pageants have come a long way in the last few decades but today people often associate pageants with girls parading down catwalks in bikinis (which I can say is far from the truth). Pageant preparation isn’t just about finding the perfect outfits but also includes helping out in your local community and also fundraising for different charities with most pageants already having a selected charity to fundraise for. For example, Miss England is a pageant that raises money for the Miss World Charity and the pagents Beauty with A Purpose and Face of the Globe raise money for the Rainbow Child Foundation, a charity that helps disadvantaged children around the world.
On October 26th, 2016, The Wright Stuff tv show argued that teen beauty pageants should be banned; they said that it’s not morally permissable to judge teen girls based on their appearences. In response, Pageant Director Holly Pirrie argued that girls are celebrating their achievements of their fundraising and work within the community when they participate in beauty pageants; pageantry isn’t about putting the girls in a line and picking who’s the best.
It’s easy for people who aren’t outside of the beauty pageant world to see what’s ‘wrong’ with pageants. Personally, I know that myself and the pageant community do try and show that beatuy pageants are so much more than superficial events. Two years ago I would have felt the same, but as the saying goes– you won’t know unless you try. In 2014, I placed 2nd in my local pageant and since then have placed in the top 3 in many other ones and eventually ended up winning a place in an international pageant the following year. In the Face of the Globe pageant, I scored extra points for raising over £1000 and attending over 40 events in the build-up to the final. There is definitely more to pageatry than aesthetic.
Over time, pageants have given me confidence and helped me build amazing relationships with people in different communities. Before entering my first pageant I was told I didn’t have the “pageant look”; it temporarily throw me off guard but I ended up going for it anyway and it was the best thing I ever did! Pageants have made me a better person and helped me become recognised within my local town but also has helped me make amazing connections around the country. Pageants are hard work but they’re so worth it!
The pageant community is like a giant family, we all look out for each other and cheer each other on. We’re all different but we all share the same love for pageants.