Unveiling the Mutya Mystique
Llewelyn Muriel Austria-del Rosario
July 05, 2006
It’s graduation season once again, the season of endings and new beginnings. For Davaoeños, March is also the season for beauty. Once again, the city will be held in a trance by the parade of beautiful women during the selection of Davao’s very own Mutya.
Almost every other little girl out there dreams to be a beauty queen. We are a nation so enthralled with pageants that it has become a national pastime rivaling the fame and following of tele-novelas and basketball games. In a country where chaos is the order of the day, we need palliatives to over-sensitize our senses so that we have no more emotional energy left to expend over much more mundane matters that never get resolved. Stuff like, bumper-to-bumper traffic, graft and corruption allegations and the perennial battle over the separation of the church and the state. And so, we latch on to the craze of selecting a beautiful maiden to represent all the good that is in us. It is a pastime that has reached comic-level and spectator-sport proportions. So much so that our militant sisters in Gabriela have dubbed beauty pageants a “meat market.”
While I do not altogether dismiss the possibility of being exploited while in pursuit of a beauty title, the fact remains that exploitation is a possibility that confronts women wherever they are. Ogling and catcalls occur almost as frequently whether you are on the ramp or on a sidewalk. Indecent proposals and lewd repartees occur just as often, if not more, in conventions as it does in beauty pageants.
In fact, from personal experience, I have found that men are less inclined to ogle, paw and hoot when they know I am a beauty queen—somehow, they feel intimidated. And during that brief pause where they are held in thrall is the perfect opportunity to send out vibes that say, ‘if you cross the boundaries of decency, I am very capable of doing another Lorena Bobbit.’
I believe that the dividing line between exploitation and the celebration of women in beauty pageants is exemplified by the fact that the candidates are there on their own free will. And whatever they are subjected to, occurs as a result of their own volition. If you do not feel comfortable wearing a swimsuit in public, don’t pursue a beauty title. If you do not want to be subjected to an evaluation of your personal and physical attributes, then do not join a pageant.
It is a sad fact that society rewards us more for looking good rather than being good. It is a tragedy that the standards of beauty conform to a specific form and shape—that is, congruence of features, a particular waist-to-hip ratio and long flowing hair—without taking into consideration the beautiful varieties that can occur! It is ironic that what makes a woman truly beautiful: her personality, character and style, can get cramped and overshadowed by a less appealing package of flesh and bones.
But then these truths and ironies do not justify summarily dismissing beauty pageants as foolish exercises in prejudice, discrimination and exploitation. After all, it is not simply the pageant organizers who envisioned the ideal for beauty. The ideal for beauty is universal and surprisingly almost uniform across several cultures and continents (i.e., clear skin, congruence of features, well-proportioned figure). Also, more often than not, the women who rise above throngs of other beautiful women are women of character, wit, grace and poise—those who possess that elusive quality known as the X-factor.
Indeed, character, wit, grace and poise are pre-requisites for being truly beautiful. These are the qualities that shine from within to illumine even the most bland of faces. As for those who continuously cling to the stereotype that beautiful women are dumb and shallow, look again.
History is replete with beautiful prime movers. To those who tenaciously condemn beauty pageants—call me biased, but I still see the Search for Mutya ng Dabaw as a venue for celebrating women and the beauty that is in them.
Joining and winning Mutya ng Dabaw in 1997 has changed my life for the better. It has opened doors for me that otherwise would have remained shut. The crown and title of Mutya ng Dabaw has served me in good stead as a platform for me and the causes that I believe in.
So let the search begin…
Almost every other little girl out there dreams to be a beauty queen. We are a nation so enthralled with pageants that it has become a national pastime rivaling the fame and following of tele-novelas and basketball games. In a country where chaos is the order of the day, we need palliatives to over-sensitize our senses so that we have no more emotional energy left to expend over much more mundane matters that never get resolved. Stuff like, bumper-to-bumper traffic, graft and corruption allegations and the perennial battle over the separation of the church and the state. And so, we latch on to the craze of selecting a beautiful maiden to represent all the good that is in us. It is a pastime that has reached comic-level and spectator-sport proportions. So much so that our militant sisters in Gabriela have dubbed beauty pageants a “meat market.”
While I do not altogether dismiss the possibility of being exploited while in pursuit of a beauty title, the fact remains that exploitation is a possibility that confronts women wherever they are. Ogling and catcalls occur almost as frequently whether you are on the ramp or on a sidewalk. Indecent proposals and lewd repartees occur just as often, if not more, in conventions as it does in beauty pageants.
In fact, from personal experience, I have found that men are less inclined to ogle, paw and hoot when they know I am a beauty queen—somehow, they feel intimidated. And during that brief pause where they are held in thrall is the perfect opportunity to send out vibes that say, ‘if you cross the boundaries of decency, I am very capable of doing another Lorena Bobbit.’
I believe that the dividing line between exploitation and the celebration of women in beauty pageants is exemplified by the fact that the candidates are there on their own free will. And whatever they are subjected to, occurs as a result of their own volition. If you do not feel comfortable wearing a swimsuit in public, don’t pursue a beauty title. If you do not want to be subjected to an evaluation of your personal and physical attributes, then do not join a pageant.
It is a sad fact that society rewards us more for looking good rather than being good. It is a tragedy that the standards of beauty conform to a specific form and shape—that is, congruence of features, a particular waist-to-hip ratio and long flowing hair—without taking into consideration the beautiful varieties that can occur! It is ironic that what makes a woman truly beautiful: her personality, character and style, can get cramped and overshadowed by a less appealing package of flesh and bones.
But then these truths and ironies do not justify summarily dismissing beauty pageants as foolish exercises in prejudice, discrimination and exploitation. After all, it is not simply the pageant organizers who envisioned the ideal for beauty. The ideal for beauty is universal and surprisingly almost uniform across several cultures and continents (i.e., clear skin, congruence of features, well-proportioned figure). Also, more often than not, the women who rise above throngs of other beautiful women are women of character, wit, grace and poise—those who possess that elusive quality known as the X-factor.
Indeed, character, wit, grace and poise are pre-requisites for being truly beautiful. These are the qualities that shine from within to illumine even the most bland of faces. As for those who continuously cling to the stereotype that beautiful women are dumb and shallow, look again.
History is replete with beautiful prime movers. To those who tenaciously condemn beauty pageants—call me biased, but I still see the Search for Mutya ng Dabaw as a venue for celebrating women and the beauty that is in them.
Joining and winning Mutya ng Dabaw in 1997 has changed my life for the better. It has opened doors for me that otherwise would have remained shut. The crown and title of Mutya ng Dabaw has served me in good stead as a platform for me and the causes that I believe in.
So let the search begin…
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