My Relationship with The Miss Universe Beauty Pageant
My full name is Ilah Kristel I. Mallari, Ilah Kristel is my first name. Yes, having two first names is very common in the Philippines, especially for girls. "I" is the beginning of my mother's maiden name and Mallari is my father's last name. It's really not that complicated, but for some reason people don't understand.
The Philippines has a mild obsession with the Miss Universe parents. My first name will forever be an origin debate, I am 100% in love with the story of my second name. I was born in 1994, my second name, "Kristel," came from my family's favorite contestant, Miss Belgium. Shown below is a photo of her taken from a popular Filipino website and the article was published in 2016. Yesterday marked another victory for America, but also the Philippines. Ms. Texas, R'Bonney Gabriel, a 28 year old Filipino-American who also has her own brand of clothing was crowned Miss Universe last night. I'm not here to discredit Ms. Gabriel's success, but I am bothered by the fact that she is praised for being mixed and how Filipinos love white and Filipino mixed race babies. I dove deeper and found some astonishing discoveries.
My family's interest in Miss Universe really only appears when there seems to be a potential winner for the Philippines. It used to be a much bigger event amongst Filipinos, maybe it still is, but perhaps its popularity has dwindled at the rise of social media. Body activists and even contestants themselves frown upon pageantries and the misrepresentations of what a healthy woman looks like. In addition to this, this year's Miss Universe is claimed to be rigged. As the host announces the winner, there was not much shock as seen in past pageantries. This is what you have been training for and working hard on for the majority of your life and your reaction couldn't be less graceful than me having unsatisfactory sex with a man I clearly have no interest in? Most of these women cry! They are shocked to their toned core!
Thank goodness I love myself now and that my niece is smart enough to not listen to those body messages. My nephew's body dysphoria, well, that's for another blog post.
