We have all seen it once before. A TV Show, in an attempt to talk about beauty standards, creates a pageant to credit women who fit the image of “beauty” or, in this case, which woman fits into society’s beauty standards. This concept has left many young, impressionable minds to believe that women who participate in pageants only care about their vanity rather than their intelligence.
However, after competing for a pageant title recently, I can assure you that this concept is completely false.
Growing up, I was convinced by the media that pageants were superficial in the way they operated, but they are not. Scholarship pageants, like Miss TAMUK, have granted women across the globe the chance to educate, lead and inspire others. Via my experience running for my first title, I was surrounded by a supportive community of women who helped each other become the best version of themselves.
It was not all about how good your appearance was, it was how you treated others, your opinions on world ideas, and your ambition to succeed.
I can firmly say that through this experience, I not only learned how to see myself in a more confident light, but learned valuable information that will help me in my academic and professional career alike.
However, due to the media’s influence, this is something many individuals are not aware of. After all, interviews and public speaking are not the first things that people think of when someone mentions pageants, but they matter. Scholarship pageants do not ridicule women, but give them the opportunity to become leaders of the future. In other words, pageants do not give you confidence, instead they bring out the confidence lurking inside of yourself.
So, if you are a woman who believes they are not cut out for pageantry, give it a shot! Show the media that you, women and pageants are more than the stereotype.