When people hear the word pageant, a number of things might come to mind — maybe it’s Toddlers and Tiaras, Honey Boo Boo or the “Miss Congeniality” movies. Last Friday several real-life pageant queens graced the UW campus to discuss their personal experiences.
The panel consisted of three queens from several different pageant systems, each with their own goals and areas of required and optional competitions. They brought along their crowns and banners for the audience to admire as they spoke about their achievements and struggles within the world of pageants.
“Pageants have enriched me in ways I couldn’t even imagine,” said Chakiva Hatrell, Ms. Plus Intercontinental. “It’s important to know you’re all that in a world that is so ready to say ‘No you are not.’”
She began her journey into pageants at a fairly young age and touched on the opportunity that pageants provide to help girls grow. She attributed some of her skills today such as public speaking and being outgoing to her participation in pageants. This seemed to be a common thread with the other queens.
“I was 56 years old when I started pageants,” said Constance Zehner, co-owner and Executive Director for Miss Plus World and current reigning Ms. Ultimate All World Beauties. “I was sitting on the couch eating bon bons just a few years ago…and look at me now!”
Zehner expressed her beliefs that pageants can be life changing, not just for little girls and young women but for ladies who are middle aged as well. She commented on how pageantry is not all that you see on TV, that there are greater impacts that come from participating in a pageant besides feeling beautiful and confident.
One of the ways pageants are impactful is through volunteerism. Not all pageant systems require community service or a platform, but many do. In the U.S. the Miss America program requires a certain number of hours of volunteer work and contestants for Miss USA are highly encouraged to have a platform to help focus how they give back to their communities. The platforms for the queens on the panel focused on self-esteem and empowering young women.
After explaining some of the basics of pageantry they answered questions from the audience. Many were curious about whether or not pageants were actually like some of the shows seen on TV.
“It’s all so staged,” said Kristy Wells-Smith, reigning Miss Plus World. “It’s almost never like that in real life. Yeah, you might have some girls who are very competitive but you don’t see the hair pulling and the screaming like you might on some of those shows.”
Hatrell commented that you do occasionally have the parents who will come and argue with judges.
“It got so strange,” Hatrell said, recalling a time when she judged a pageant for very young girls. “I had a mother who came up to me and started crying because her child didn’t get a score she thought she should. And if you looked behind her, her daughter was having a great time! It just didn’t makes sense to me why she felt the need to make a fuss.”
Other audience members asked for the queens to weigh in on child pageantry and the role a parent plays in that.
“I’m honestly not a fan of pageants for tiny little girls,” said Hatrell. “It’s different when you’re an adult. They can’t say no and parents live through their children even if the kids don’t enjoy the experience.”
Wells-Smith pointed out that parents need to know what kind of pageant they’re entering their child in as well.
“There are glitz and natural pageants for small children,” Wells-Smith said. “So you need to consider what kind of competition you’re sending your child into and if that’s what is best for them.”
The discussion ended with the queens pointing out that pageants have the potential to be a positive opportunity for women of nearly any age. All three women advocated for the investment of time, money and community support that can go into a girl or woman competing in a pageant.
“When families and communities come out, that means they see something in you. When you’re onstage and you realize that, you start to see that same thing for yourself,” said Hartell. “That’s not a bad thing, for them to walk away as this new more confident person, but that doesn’t mean that pageant’s are the only way for a woman to become confident.”
