Proliferation of beauty pageants: the death of beauty
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"And the winner is....." the audience erupted in thunderous applause and a deafening ovation the like heard in football stadium, on the night of a UEFA Champions League final. Thus begins the life of the Queen. 'Her Majesty' glides around the hall, with her exquisite gown, the tiara fits her head like it was actually made for her while she waves to the crowd in a locomotive way acknowledging the cheers from the crowd.
The Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's wife, Julia Morley, co-chairs the pageant. Alongside its rivals Miss Universe and Miss Earth, this pageant is one of the most publicised beauty contests in the world. The current Miss World is Rolene Strauss of South Africa who was crowned on 14 December 2014 in London, United Kingdom. Traditionally, Miss World lives in London during her reign.Miss World is part of the Big Four international beauty pageants.
Now it should be noted that the essence of beauty contests such as Miss World and its rivals is to raise money for charities and support laudable causes while celebrating the physical beauty of womanhood. Hence, since 1951, it said that the MWO [Miss World Organization] has raised over 250 Million Pounds for Charities globally hence its global reception and relevance. Here lies the crux of the matter.
The past three months saw me stay in Awka, Anambra State Southeast Nigeria which as many of your know, it is the home of my Alma Mater, Nnamdi Azikiwe University. Now those three months introduced me to the world of pageantry [or should I say, reintroduced me]. I came across so many Pageants within one environment and the raison d'etre? just to raise money for their selfish business interests.
Yes! I am bold to say so. But why you may ask, would I arrive at the conclusion as captioned in the headline? The answer is simple. Beauty Pageants has lost its appeal because it is now a business venture and who gets the crown is determinant on the number of tickets you could sell.
In April I was at one of the Pageants and the it has as its theme "Beauty with Brains". The three girls who eventually won the one crown with three different titles where obvious bereft of brains and against popular decision but yet they were crowned. Upon further investigations, we discovered that they won because the raked in over N150, 000 in ticket money each. You can imagine that.
Now you can imagine my disgust when I learned even that high profile pageants in Nigeria, such as MBGN, Mr. Tourism, Miss Tourism and the likes also adopt such strategies. The Funniest yet most annoying part of the whole 'ish' is that these 'Royals be they 'Kings and Queens', "Dukes and Duchesses", "Mr. and Miss" fail to impact meaningfully in the lives of the community. They just keep accumulating these crowns, for selfish reasons; either to show off their sexy [some of them sef no get anything] bodies and six packs and also, the prize money.
The spend so much emphasis on apparels without even edifying the brain. They are the ones who have murdered beauty! perhaps I may now want to truly consider that "The beautiful ones are not yet born".
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism should look into this matter as these unscrupulous agents are not only ripping unsuspecting contestants off their money, they are actually causing a systemic brain drain as these people do not even consider formal education any more.
The proliferation of beauty pageants must stop if beauty must survive!
Chimezie Udechukwu, also known as OjisiEmezie or Jisi is Multiple Award winning Albinism Awareness Advocate who is very passionate about youth learning and development, peace and conflict resolution. He holds a Bsc in Political Science and an Msc in Peace and Conflict Resolution. He loves to volunteer, and is a Model United Nations Enthusiast. He is often regarded as an MUN leader and a hope for Nigeria.
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