South Asian’s Tryst With Beauty Pageants
South Asia is considered an exotic place and exotic places have bundles of natural beauty. So it’s only natural that South Asian beauties will rule at beauty pageants too. India holds the record for the highest number of Miss World winners along with Venezuela. Even Bangladesh has decided to send Miss Bangladesh winners to Miss World pageants since 2016. Pakistani beauties are also breaking their shackles to participate in prestigious pageants.
Recently Chhavi Verg, Miss New Jersey 2017, who is the recently selected first runner up for the Miss USA 2017 pageant and an Indian American got embroiled in a controversy. It is a record first time for a Brown Girl to be crowned with this title in the Miss USA pageant. People raised questions that whether Kara McCullough, who was crowned Miss USA 2017 rather deserved it or not! Kara’s answer that health services are not a right and we are privileged to receive them and suggesting that only educated people have the right to health received much flak. Some even claimed that Chaavi Verg was more beautiful and more deserving of the title. Nina Davuluri did achieve pageant queen status in 2014 when she won Miss America. However, there were people who questioned her ethnicity and skin color.
As for India, there is a decline in international pageant winners in the last decade. But there was a time when India won back to back Miss World titles and even both Miss World and Miss Universe in the same year (Aishwarya, Sushmita:1994 and Priyanka, Lara:2000). Reita Faria was the first Indian woman to win Miss World in 1996. Zeenat Aman won Miss Asia Pacific in 1970. Nicole Faria won the less recognized Miss Earth pageant in 2010 and was the first Indian to do so. Tara Anne Fonseca was a Bangalore model who won Miss Asia Pacific in 1973.
Despite a highly patriarchal society, even Pakistani and Bangladeshi women have shown their grit as well as beauty by participating in pageants. Miss Pakistan USA 2015, Sarish Khan, not only walked in Pakistan fashion shows but is also ready to make her debut in a Pakistani film. Even Bangladeshi American women are finding their footing in pageantry, such as Marjana Chowdhury, Miss Bangladesh USA 2016.
Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder and every woman and man is different and beautiful in their own way.
https://www.dissdash.com/2017/05/south-asians-beauty-pageants/
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