America’s beauty pageant circuit often flies under the radar, usually gone undetected by mainstream and social media. Despite nationally-televised broadcasts of pageants such the “Miss America” and “Miss Universe,”doubts arise if the woman crowned queen will receive, as American pop artist Andy Warhol would put it, her “15 minutes of fame.” The story may headline only the most obscure section of newspapers, such as “Lifestyle,” but will seldom become front-page material. Unlike sporting events such as the Superbowl or Wimbledon, the chances of hearing colorful recollections at work or in school yards of contestants from pageant’s past are as slim a snowman’s survival in the Sahara heat. They are destined not to become subjects for topics of million-dollar questions on game shows, nor will the pageant winner’s images be immortalized on the breakfast-cereal boxes that stand on the tables in American households.
Ironically, the best way to achieve fame and fortune as a beauty queen is through becoming the center of scandal. In 1983 ,Vanessa Williams became the first contestant of African American descent crowned Miss America. Representing New York, Vanessa Williams captivated audiences during the pageant gala. During the talent portion, Williams sang her rendition of the roaring-twenties song “Happy Days Are Here Again.” Her above-average singing ability was evident, but was her network-television debut as beauty queen enough to spark superstardom? After nearly a year as the reigning Miss America, unauthorized photos surfaced of Williams in September, 1984 issue of Penthouse Magazine. The epitome of sapphic erotica, the black and white spread featuring Williams captured on film, “in the throes of passion,” with a female co-model were euphemistically reported by news outlets as “nude photos.”
Amid publicity surrounding the publication’s release, pageant officials urged Williams to step down as the reigning Miss America. Forced to return her $25,000 in scholarship money, Williams publicly announced her resignation. After nearly a year of fulfilling duties as pageant ambassador, her name was erased from official records and replaced with the name, “Suzette Charles.”
Though the name Suzette Charles is officially written somewhere in pageant history as Miss America ’84, in the minds of Americans who have experienced the tail end of the last century will recall, or insist, Vanessa Williams was the one and only Miss America that year, and years past and since. She rebounded from the scandal amassing more fame and fortune than any contestant of the pageant’s illustrious history in the entertainment industry as a world-renown singer and actress.
Across the Pacific, in the Philippines, beauty pageant contestants receive the same status reserved for Olympic-gold-medal athletes or star NBA players in the US. Like some boys aspire to become the next LeBron James, in the Philippines it is not uncommon for boys to aspire to become Gazini Ganados, Miss Philippines 2019. On a brief visit to the Luzon province of Pampanga, a loud beeping from my hotel-room television prompted my undivided attention. “Oh no!” I thought. “Is there a tropical storm on the way? Has President Aquino just been shot?” Turning my face to the television, I noticed floating from left to right at the bottom of the screen was a ticker-tape news bulletin: “Venus Raj has been reinstated as Miss Philippines in the 2010 Miss Universe Pageant. Stay tuned for more news after regularly-scheduled programming.” The bulletin was not centered on an assassination, a natural disaster, nor was on the achievement of an Olympian, but an update of the status of a beauty queen’s eligibility!
From the small barangays nestled deep in the provinces to the big cities of Cebu and Manila, beauty pageants play a significant role in a cross section of Filipino culture. Many girls, and boys who identify as female, view the glamour and pageantry of the events as an escape from the harsh realities of a life marginalized by poverty and limited opportunity. Throughout the archipelago, people gather by televisions, shopping-mall promenades, and the street-side stages to witness the spectacle, inspiring some to one day enter the pageant circuit as a participant .
Not only are pageants such as the annual “Binibining Pilipinas” a big draw nationally, but pageants such as the “Miss Amazing Philippines Beauties” and the “Super Sireyna International.” Often slotted for prime time television, these pageants receive an equal share of mainstream-media coverage. Many outsiders insist the Amazing Philippines and Super Sireyna contestants are the most strikingly beautiful matched against Binibining Pilipinas contestants, but are later surprised to find that contestants from the Miss Amazing Philippines and Super Sireyna have something in common that precludes them from entering the Binibining Pilipinas: the gender printed on their birth certificate. The competing queens of the Miss Amazing and Super Sireyna were born male.
When American comedian Steve Harvey hosted the 2015 “Miss Universe,” unfamiliar with the elimination process, mistakenly named Ariadna Gutiérrez, Miss Colombia, as the winner over Miss Philippines, Pia Wurtzbuch, most Americans were dismissive, commenting in social media forums that “it was just a beauty pageant.” In the Philippines and Colombia, however, the slip up took people to the streets . To worsen matters, Harvey later tweeted a public apology, misspelling the country’s names with the following statement; “I want to apologize emphatically to Miss Philipians and Miss Columbia.”
Presently carrying the “torch,” handed down from Wurtzbuch is former Miss Philippines and current Miss Universe, Catriona Gray. With the upcoming “2019 Miss Universe” around the corner, Filipinos place high expectations on their current representative, Gazini Ganados.
This Rappler.com article posted June 12, 2019, gives insight on the Cebuano beauty queen who insists the work of a pageant contestant is no easy task.