In Philippines, an obsession with beauty pageants

The article begins by describing the excited reaction when “a Filipina brought home the most coveted crown in the beauty pageant industry” for the “first time in 42 years”. It shifts to the perspective of one Majoy Manlapaz, who mentions the international nature of beauty pageants and its instructive effect on Filipinos. “I can’t afford to go to other countries to experience the culture, language and history but through beauty pageants like Miss Universe … you are already travelling by listening to them tell their story about their countries and their experiences.” Makoy highlights the ‘crossing-boundary’ potential of beauty pageants, to go beyond personal perceptions of culture, language and history to see new modes of experiencing life as a person. This happens through the international beauty pageant, yet the judgement criteria trained on the women is international, Western, and non-Filipino. As a “communications trainer”, he was invited to do a training session for a beauty queen on communication skills … His candidate went on to win Miss Philippines. We immediately think of the importance of language as a signifier of cultural refinement, and that Manlapaz is part of an industry of language that seeks to transform Filipino girls on the outside to become international icons who can succeed by international standards. This training highlights how globalization is a means of challenging a people to go beyond their  potential.

This training has worked, “Philippine contestants consistently rank in the top 5 or 10 in international competitions”. The girls are taught to “make their weaknesses into strong points and … cover their weaknesses with their strengths”. One wonders to what extent these strengths are American ideals, as “the Americans introduced the … beauty pageants” as part of a larger industrial framework to “promote products” in the “early … colonial period”. American influence cannot be downplayed even within the beauty pageant, as seen by their “occidental queen” compared to the “oriental queen” perhaps as an example. Success in the beauty pageant, therefore, allows contestants the cultural capital to become “successful businesswomen, politicians and movie stars” because they embrace and embody new values that the Filipino girl has to learn.