Following up on posts to last week’s Mamalakaya Festival, the Miss Queen of Mamalakaya was a success, according to event organizer Kit Flores. Yheng Lavitoria of Tarlac was crowned queen at last Saturday’s event at Wawandue Barangay’s Covered Court. Competing to a packed crowd, Amika Montero of Olongapo City took the last spot as the fourth runner up, Dimple Tan of Manilla placed third, Castillejos native Lian Domingo reached second runner-up status, and placing first was Bataan’s Jenna Maria.
Kit welcomes you to next year’s Mamalakaya Festival, featuring activities and performances for people of all ages.
Crown laid out on table
Pageant contestant in the 2019 Mamalakaya Pageant
Pageant contestant in the 2019 Mamalakaya
Yheng Lavitoria competes in the costume portion of event
Contestant shows off Bikini figure in the 2019 Queen of Mamalakaya Pageant
Contestant spreads wings at 2019 Mamalakaya Pageant
Dimple Tan of Manila shows off figure in revealing swimsuit
Contestant wears bikini in question-and-answer portion of the pageant
Mamalakaya contestant contorts back to audience for an impromptu ventriloquist show
Mamalakaya answers questions in bikini in question-and-answer portion
Contestant stands with friends after gala.
Contestant gets call as one of the top contestants
Contestant stands with friends and family after show
Gerald (left) and Rolly (right) chat outside of Gerald’s Olongapo internet cafe
Originally written March 2011
How far can someone advance in society based solely on looks? Traditionally, males value physical appearance above all. Men, regardless of sexual orientation, search endlessly for the perfect mate. Age, education, religion and social status are often important factors in choosing a mate, but men, overtaken by lust or love, in a lapse of reasoning, put physical appearance atop their list, while females wait pensively for men to adore them. Pictures of female figures printed in the pages of a magazine set unattainable beauty standards for most women. Wishfully, women perceive them as mirror images of themselves.
If truth exists to a picture saying a thousand words, women typically read pictures of models in publications such as Vanity Fair, Vogue and Allure as detailed trade-book instructions on how to be “beautiful”. They analyze each pixel – each article of clothing. They represent a puzzle piece – the missing link to the perfect ensemble ready to be bought, sold, worn, and tossed out as next season’s rags. “It is the clothes that make the man,” is a phrase more commonly uttered than clothing “making” the woman. Ironically, popular men’s magazines – Playboy, Esquire, and Maxim – sparsely feature male models promoting the latest fashions amid pages filled with text and femme fatale images imbued in glamour. Male slaves of fashion represent a debutantes’ caricature. Men who believe that someone can never become too fashion conscious and define themselves by designer labels fall into the category of camp or the updated metrosexual. “They appreciate the finer things,” cosmopolitan females comment. For women, they are seldom a lover, a husband, a boyfriend, but a best friend; they are “less threatening” with fashion plans for everyone, but none to rule the world. In western society a man among common men is ostracized – or to lesser extent, affectionately teased for detail to style. Male’s outward preoccupation with the dress on a woman instead of the body it covers insights suspicion in many social circles. His sexual orientation goes before a jury of peers.
“Functionality,” “mechanics,” “strength,” and “prowess” are words synonymous with the male mystique. For men, boundaries for fashion are well-defined. Men who attempt to broaden fashion’s parameters often fail miserably. Fashion for men remains a bland black & white three-piece world allowing little variation. It is not inasmuch the clothing for men, but their ability to compete in one-style-fits-all attire. Men dressing out of the ordinary are rarely taken seriously for pushing styles’ envelop. Power-driven American males brought up with the American football philosophy, “winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” would reluctantly accept an award honoring the “best dressed” or “best looking,” for taking such a title intimidates the male bravado. Like winning a losing race, it is a trite, self-defeating distinction, lacking selfless heroism relegated to uniformed men….
