Pageant News Roundup

[ivn]

The winner of Miss Universe Philippines made history with her African-American heritage. Did ‘diversity finally win’?

Is Miss Universe Philippines’ win a ‘hopeful’ shift in beauty standards?https://t.co/a73HloF4wr
- South China Morning Post (@SCMPNews) June 9, 2024

-Chelsea Manalo, the first Miss Universe Philippines with African-American heritage-

Comments

[behansu]

The skin lightening shit is prevalent in ALL of Asia tbh and it's so gross.

If pageants have to exist, then I'm glad that at the very least they're embracing a wider definition of beauty. While I don't care for pageants myself, I know that others do and it's very cool to see a trans winner and a plus-size winner. Maybe one day we'll even see a winner with short hair lol

[alquilaunhombre]

Short hair winner 😂

[hay_nako]

I think the current miss universe won with her short hair. But the chance to see trans and plus-size win miss u is dim because even though the current owner is trans herself there was a video that leaked of her being against it.

[behansu]

I looked it up and the current winner has long hair, but I think you might be talking about the winner from 2019, Zozibini Tunzi? She had short hair when she won, which is lovely to see, but rare. I was mostly referring to stereotypical gender markers which still dominate in pageantry. I think it'll be a long time before we ever see a more androgynous winner or a winner who isn't decked out in makeup, dresses and a blindingly white and perfect smile.

[kinokol]

I personally think pageants are archaic and dumb as hell, but the pageant world is always making "headlines" for stories like this that expose how enraged the general public can get over any attempts to move the needle on diversity or beauty standards.

As long as people are still having insane, unhinged reactions, we have a long way to go and definitely have not evolved to seeing women as people with inherent worth that isn't tied to their beauty. Might as well have them and continue to widen the definition of what is beautiful until we collectively no longer need to hold women under a lens. People are going to find gross new ways to judge and appraise women anyway and these pageants don't have the power and influence that they used to and that's something.

[meowmind]

I’m so happy for Chelsea! The colorism is BAD in the Philippines. Almost everyone famous is light skinned or half white, and this has been a norm for decades.

Going out in the sun is seen as a bad thing (in a hot, tropical ass country 🥴) and folks are berated for it.

But hope she gets lots of support and love for winning. She’s GORGEOUS

[fernandocolunga]

im crying she's so pretty so yeah maybe we should ban them

[gatewaydrug]

filipina here. it's so crazy growing up with a mom telling me i can't stay out in the sun too long because i'll get dark and i'll be ugly. and then when i did tan, my american/white friends always complementing how great it looked. absolute mindfuck as a child.

[beegotry]

Same. My mom still continues to judge my looks because I'm not the mestiza she wanted, even though she has no genetics to give and married a lazy average short dude.

[umilicious]

(edited to include “male”)

I’m glad I’m 20+ years older than my Filipina cousins, because I was able to get in there and tell them that their tan skin was something to be proud of. I love my aunties but they would have projected their own insecurities about skin color onto their daughters. They would always talk about how fair I was as a compliment and I would have to gently remind them that their own skin was beautiful too.

And yes, specifically their daughters, because I never heard a peep from my uncles or male cousins about skin color.