MISS UNIVERSE is about beauty, but this year things got ugly.
Jenelle Thongs, 32, this country’s representative, faced a backlash from people critical of her size and style.
But the account of her journey and her experiences throughout all of it – given by her in an interview published in this newspaper last weekend – proves that while she lost the crown to Miss Denmark Victoria Kjær Theilvig, she was still a winner that night in Mexico City on November 16.
Not for nothing was she awarded Miss Congeniality, an honour voted on by her peers.
Beauty contests remain popular to some extent, though in recent decades they have waned. Even before the global #MeToo movement, a divide had opened in which some came to see these competitions as forums for the continued objectification of women.
As a result, pageants have tried to rebrand. Organisers began describing them as “scholarship programmes.” They turned into “platforms” for the launch of careers. There was greater emphasis on “inner qualities.”
The trolling of Ms Thongs, however, reveals much of that to be a lie.
It is proof that for many, these pageants remain skin deep. Beauty, it turns out, is not in the eye of the beholder: it is what some people say it should be.
Not only did this country’s representative defy a general intolerance of diverse body types, but she also pushed against the parameters of what some deem to be suitable for a pageant contestant.
The internet backlash was so fierce that Ms Thongs had to address it while rehearsing, right after her impressive performance at the preliminaries in Mexico, which earned her the loudest applause.
“I will always be that girl,” she said in a social media post. “I cannot think of myself small. If my confidence bothers you, I’m sorry. I did what needed to be done. And that was: be my authentic and best self.”
And this is the lesson Ms Thongs teaches.
Growing up in Morvant, she constantly wished to enter pageants but struggled with her – and Global North society’s – idea of beauty. When she turned 28 three years ago, she thought her dream was over because she had aged out of the entry requirements for Miss Universe. But the age limit changed last year. It was her sign.
“I know for everyone I may not be their cup of tea – but I prefer to be coffee on some days,” she said.
Not only has Ms Thongs proved her mettle on the world stage, but she is also to be congratulated for being that rare thing, a true role model.
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