NC Women braved the bad weather in hopes of becoming the next MISS/MRS NC Beauties
This weekend I judged my first beauty pageant, the MISS/MRS NC Beauties Pageant in Raleigh.
I have been a contestant in pageants before, but never recognized the challenges that judges face when holding the future of these women’s pageant careers in your hands.
Pageants are serious business. Although some think of pageants in a negative light, and there certainly can be a downside to pageants (I can’t think of any right now), there are many positive aspects too.
I never would have participated in a pageant had it not been for a college professor my freshmen year in college. Dr. Anne Fountain. She knew that I was working my way through college and she encouraged me to participate in a local scholarship pageant. It was my first preliminary to a national pageant and I WON! Soon after, I caught the “pageant bug.” I was entering the pageants to make money not spend it, so everything including wardrobe, personal trainer, and accessories were either donated or borrowed. I never left a pageant without making it into the finals. My pageant career soon opened many doors and won me a significant amount of scholarship money, allowing me to pursue my collegiate and professional career.
For women, like me, who had few options for advancing their education, pageants can be a positive way to further their careers and also a way to stand up for any issues they wish to bring to the forefront. Pageants usually require contestants to have a platform (My platform was domestic violence awareness), which is basically a critical issue that she wishes to promote and inform others about. Community service is also a major aspect of today’s pageants.
Pageants not only consist of women working the stage in a swimsuit, they focus on in-depth interviews with each contestant. In fact, the pageant I judged this weekend didn’t even have a swimsuit competition. It focused on personal style and interview instead.
The benefits of being able to think on your feet during an interview far surpass the pageant stage and into many real life situations. Almost everyone must go through some sort of interview process to apply for a job. Those women who have been through the extensive interviews conducted in many pageants just might have an advantage over the average applicant for a position.
There is also something to be said for the positive self-esteem that comes from being able to walk and speak on the spot in front of hundreds of people.
I always tell people that competing in a pageant is no different than running for public office. Each woman serves as a representative for her hometown, she is already a leader and role-model in her community, except now she is seeking to propel her status and platform on a statewide and then possibly national level. In preparation for the pageant, she campaigns in her community, raises money for her participation in the competition, educates the public and advocates on behalf of the issues that are important to her and her community…all of this while maintaining a certain standard of conduct, morals, and appearance. Now you tell me how different that is from running for office?
Sure there are some differences, a pageant has traditionally been considered a form of entertainment (today’s political campaigns could arguably pretty entertaining themselves). It’s a competition that people enjoy watching and mostly women enjoy participating in.
So, congrats to our new North Carolina ambassadors! Phaedra Flowers- MISS North Carolina US Beauties Sharon Miller Ashley- MRS North Carolina US Beauties…I look forward to watching these smart, dynamic, and beautiful women representing North Carolina well in the national pageant in 2009!!
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Comments
Beautifully put, well-written! Pageants have their benefits, and they are far-reaching. Had it not been for pageants, I wouldn’t be as good at public speaking as I am, and I doubt that I would be working with the community programs I am lucky enough to be involved in. Pageants should be taken seriously enough that you learn something about yourself during competition but not so seriously that you must win the crown in order to be a winner! You were an excellent judge, I enjoyed your comments, and I am proud of the two winners and all of my new friends! Thank you for taking the time to judge!
Thank you so much for the great article. You are as beautiful on the inside as on the outside. You were a great judge. Hope to see you again.
I know that Phaedra & I will make NC US Beauties proud at Nationals. We are dedicated & determined women who strives to do our best.
Again, thank you! Mrs.NC US Beauties
Very good and very true article. My 18 year old daughter recently landed her first job (while attending college). She said that the interview process reminded her of the many pageant interviews she has had. This was her first job interview, and there were many other applicants, some of whom had previous work experience.
Great artice! Pageants for sure have helped me with public speaking, wanting to be a better person and with self confidence! They are so much fun, to interact with other women who have the same interests as you. It really makes me push myself hard to try and achieve the final win! I love the pageant weekend - it is a time to hang out with the contestants and just have a great time until SHOW TIME!!
This pageant was a great experience for me. This was my very first pageant! Thanks for being there. Great article,so many people will be educated by its content.
MISS DURHAM COUNTY
Wow, Jess. How fun for you to be able to be involved in the process from the “back-end”! What great insight you have and I tell ya what, I have a new-found respect for the entire process just by reading your recap. Very cool! Thanks so much for sharing.
This pageant have taut me the beauty of being free. Yes I understand that I talk a lot about freedom, but when you come from a land where rape, kidnapping and torture is a every day, you learn to appreciate even the air that you breath in this day sep 11 we should take a moment and reflect on all the great thing this land has provide, respect one another to fallow the law and the most important thing to try to be the best American you can be. I hope you ladies will always remember that freedom is not free and that my ladies are the beauty of it. Please pray for the soul of Sep 11 2001, and I hope to one day see you ladies again. And pray also for my boys and girls pf the army forces
Beautifully written, positive and well said. This is one of the best articles that has been written about pageantry in a very long time. I’m very happy that you were selected to judge the North Carolina U.S. Beauties State Pageant.
I have always believed that Pageantry was a positive way for young ladies to learn poise and public speaking. As a state director, I want to promote these ladies self-asteem & to watch them grow. So many negative stereotypes about pageantry have made a lot of people not compete. We are here to to change that. These women that are competing are intelligent, positive, giving & dedicated to social causes that need advocacy. They are making a difference in their communities. When the author compares pageants to to running for public office she is really telling you the truth about how hard these ladies work to promote themselves and their plateform. GREAT ARTICLE!!!
Beautifully PUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!