Can you believe it? The Mexican government is actually considering
banning beauty pageants in Mexico forever and ever and ever. Who would ever
thought that a country that has been celebrating feminine beauty for decades,
maybe centuries, is actually thinking of considering banning pageants altogether.
I mean to me that's like unbelievable. So to be more specific
Mexico is considering to hold a parliamentary vote to ban all beauty
pageants in Mexico as the Mexican Gender Equality Commission consider all
beauty pageants as a form of symbolic violence against women. During a virtual
meeting that took place few days ago the Gender Equality Commission of Chamber of
Deputies said that its members were working on three aspects. Now let's talk
about number one - to include symbolic and media violence. I mean I would think that
the committee members are educated and enlightened enough to think that seeing
a beauty girl a beautiful girl running or walking in public does not
necessarily provoke violence, I mean you have to be really demented or psychotic
or emotionally dysfunctional to actually believe that a beautiful woman can cause
violence. Gender parity reforms - so basically the committee is suggesting
that beauty pageants are actually making women less progressive maybe or less
competitive compared to men in general. And number three - consolidate the concept
of revictimization. I mean those are like loaded words - consolidate the
concept of revictimization. So basically the committee is trying to
redefine the word victim or the victimization, so I mean for
decades or even for centuries women have been competing in beauty pageants. They
compete out of their own volition, out of their own will.
They are never forced or coerced to join these pageants. They participate, they
compete in their own free will so I've never heard of any beauty contestant who
actually considers herself as a victim simply because she joined a pageant.
The members also expressed their objection towards any such form of
competition in which beauty or physical appearance of women, girls, or adolescents
is evaluated in full or in part based on sexist stereotypes. Hello in order for a
contestant to win a pageant she has to look her best
Duh! I don't understand what the problem is with these committee members. I mean
come on! Okay, fine, granted there are many pageants out there. There are pageants that
focus primarily on looks, there are pageants that focus primarily on talent,
they are pageants that focus primarily on intelligence and personality, or there are
pageants that combine all aspects of a woman. So, but for pageants that focus
primarily on looks let's say supermodel looks or whatever then why is it a
problem for these committee members? I mean first of all beauty pageants are
private entities so as private entities the owner has every right to establish
his own rules as to how a contestant or our winner qualifies or is selected so I
think the committee members are mostly unattractive maybe middle-aged women
who probably have never dated in their lives or probably who have been dumped
buy their boyfriends or their husbands that's why they feel very bitter about beauty
pageants. I mean I'm just generalizing but I think that's a valid response. I
don't have any problems with you know pageants for little girls
that usually use very light makeup. I do have a big issue with with girl
pageants where the contestants are actually made up to look like hookers or
prostitutes or middle aged women. Now I have to agree with the committee members
who are against adolescent or teen pageants but to a certain degree. I mean
I like Miss Teen USA, I've always watched it since you know the early days from
the early 1980s and I do like the fact that they also had to compete in the
swimsuit competition but because of the #MeToo movement Miss Teen USA had to
eliminate the swimsuit competition in favor of a more appropriate athletic
wear competition which is okay by me. No, I don't think teen pageants should
be banned because I mean teenage girls love to dress up, they love to shine on
stage, they love that feeling of being and looking like a princess. I would
definitely encourage her to compete in teen pageants because I want what's best
for her and and being the best for it would also include a venue or a way to
help herself to help improve her, her communication skills, help improve her
personality, her intelligence. However, if a pageant's intention is to sexualize
adolescent girls, then to me that would be a problem, a big big problem, yeah.
The Commission also mentioned that media violence is also a form of symbolic
aggression expressed through the publication or dissemination of
stereotype symbols, images, messages, and ideas through the mass and electronic
means of communication. So what does that mean? They're saying that if you post if
a young girl or a young woman a beauty queen posts an image of her on a social
media via Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat or whatever, that would
automatically be considered as a form of symbolic aggression. Basically, I guess
what they're trying to say is that when a young girl or
young woman who is emotionally vulnerable or probably lacks a
lot of self-confidence sees those type of images I guess she
may feel perhaps inferior to these women or to these images that she sees on
social media and she tries to compare herself to her and then she and then she
starts feeling, "Oh well, I'm not as pretty as she is.
I feel fat, I look fat, I feel depressed, I feel ugly, I feel horrible. I'll never be
able to be, to look or to feel like that beautiful woman that I see on social
media. So basically the commission is saying "We believe that beauty contests
are events which show women through socio-cultural standards and under
gender stereotypes as an instrument to maintain the concept of a female body as
an object. This limits the personal development of the participants." So
that's exactly what they're saying. So I wonder how many of these commission
members have actually attended beauty pageants or have actually gotten to know
the directors or contestants of beauty pageants. I mean if they really spend
their time let's say maybe they maybe they should attend a beauty camp someday
and find out for themselves exactly how these pageant contestants are trained or
how many hours they have to practice you know walking, sashaying on stage, posing and
in their swimsuit, posing in their evening gowns and also of course the hours and
hours and hours of workshop necessary to improve their social skills, their
communication skills, their interview skills so forth and so on. So I don't understand
how or why these commission members think that pageants actually diminish the the
talents or the capabilities of a woman. I mean to me that's pretty much absurd.
Really. So a deputy from the state of Morena Beatriz Rosa Martinez, said that
beauty pageants and competitions are held annually in the country where
gender roles are reproduced. She considered that these pageants organized
and financed by state governments to supposedly
promote tourism, traditions, and customs are a contradiction hence they added
that the pageants will not be able to use public resources,official promotion
subsidies adn any kind of economic or institutional support for carrying out
these kinds of shows. So what this deputy is arguing is that the country or the
state will have to stop sponsoring and financing these pageants who are
supposedly promoting tourism, you know, in the country. Fine. I mean if if this that
would have to depend on the state, the state will have to vote whether to
continue or or stop financing pageants in that particular state. But let's
remember that pageants again are private entities pageants do not necessarily
have to rely on state funding or national funding.They can also use the
public or private donors to donate money for the production of the pageant. So I
don't think that should be a problem at all, I mean it's done in the United
States all the time. I mean state pageants always constantly struggle to
search for for sponsors. So yeah, if the state decides to stop funding state
pageants and if the majority of the residents of that state, you know, agree to
stop funding pageants then fine, you know, that's their prerogative.
However, it's not you know very unusual at one point that state pageants or even
cities or towns actually did sponsor or are probably doing still sponsoring
beauty contestants and I can think of let's say the town the city of Manizales,
Colombia who for years have sponsored the pageant called Reina internacional
del Café or International Queen of Ccoffee. I don't know if that pageant still exists
but I mean for four decades the city of Manizales, Colombia did sponsor that
pageant. And of course we know in the Philippines, the world's biggest
pageant country, every town, every city or even barrio crowns its own
beauty queen who is partially or fully sponsored by the local government, so
it's not very unusual you know for a beauty queen to be sponsored by the
local government. Beauty pageants have always been very popular in Mexico, I
mean for several decades, so imagine Mexican pageant fans expressing their
sadness and disappointment to this news as beauty queens of their country have
actually done exceptionally well internationally. And guess who's not a
happy camper? Lupita Jones, the first Mexican woman to have won Miss Universe
in 1991 and is currently the director of Mexicana Universal, the Mexican
organization that sends Mexican representatives to Miss Universe and
other international pageants. So a couple of days ago Lupita posted on her
Instagram account and I'm going to quote just a few lines and she said, "Since then
my life has been dedicated to generating spaces and maintaining a platform that
provides Mexican women with the necessary tools that allow them to
confidently and courageously face any challenge that comes their way in life,
not just a beauty contest. I have witnessed and actively promoted a
transformation in these platforms in our country. I have always said that
platforms like Miss Universe have represented the women of every era. Over
the course of68 years, it has evolved not once, not twice, many times
more to adapt to what the same woman has been demanding throughout history. Trying
to designate these platforms as symbolic violence seems to me completely wrong
and without any foundation. How can training, forming, mentoring, and
strengthening women be considered violence against women both internally
and externally? Teach her to cultivate her self-esteem, self-confidence, and
security, provide her with professional opportunities so that she can stand out
in what she is passionate about. Where is the violence? I think
deputy Frida Alejandra Esparza that it is not possible to legislate from ignorance
and personal prejudice." A longer version of Lupita's statement is actually posted
on her Facebook page where she also says that pageants boost the country's
economy as it involves employing talents such as choreographers, camera crew,
makeup artists, stylists, gown designers, fitness trainers, interview coaches,
walking coaches, choreographers, social media director, etc. I mean I couldn't
agree more with Lupita. I mean if Mexican women are free they
should be allowed to compete in pageants as a vehicle to advance in life.
I mean if Mexico is a free country and believes in free enterprise then it
should actually further encourage pageants or any type of activity that
seeks to improve the status of Mexican women. And more importantly, the
government shouldn't have any business dictating to women how they want to live
their lives or what they want to do in their lives. I mean to me, that's the real
symbolic violence against women. What do you think? Comment below.