What's up with the "hate-on" for pageants?

[Tropicana]

They're not for everyone but they can be a positive experience. IMHO I have always thought that the negativity come primarily from women who realize they don't have a chance of participating. I have participated in....there was no bathing suit competition. I have judged pageants. They are a wonderful opportunity for young ladies to develop more poise and confidence.

As long as the clothes are modest (not like some of the slutty attire we're seeing today that objectifies women), they are a very positive experience. The pageant must also be equitable for women of all races and not just promoting a White standard of beauty.

Andrea Lyons was the first Miss Jamaica to wear an afro to the Miss World pageant and she was also a semi-finalist that year. That similar hair style was later repeated by Joan McDonald in 1978.

http://butterflyexpressions.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/jamaica-at-50-jamaican-beauties-of-the-past-50-years/

If I have a granddaughter, I will encourage her to participate if she is interested....but the bathing suits and evening gowns must be modest....and no bikini, lingerie modelling or weave.

Most pageants involve:

- a talent competition
- opportunities to fine-tune speaking and presentation skills
- lessons in hair, make-up, and etiquette
- the opportunity to mix and mingle with influential people and engage in intelligent conversation
- learning to walk and carry yourself with poise
- the opportunity to travel
- the chance to attend receptions and cultural events

Many have scholarships. Many of them have charity programmes and projects.

Did you know that for many of the Jamaican and Caribbean pageants, young ladies have to learn about the history or culture of their country of origin and either write an essay or make a presentation? What is the harm in that?

Black and Jamaican young ladies face so many assaults to their confidence on a daily basis, what is wrong with something to build them up, encourage them and make them feel special for a change?

I don't support the direction that some pageants have taken (e.g. Miss Universe with posing in lingerie and skimpy bathing suits).
Pageants need to return to how they used to be. Wholesome events that give a young lady a chance to shine.

So why is there such a hate-on for pageants?

Inquiring minds want to know?

[Tropicana]

Please note the bolding. what is the harm in an of this?

Miss Jamaica World

Rules & Criteria

Criteria for Entry

The Miss Jamaica Beauty Pageant is open to all young, single female Jamaicans and the qualification for eligibility is that all contestants shall be a person:

• Who has been born in Jamaica, be the child of a Jamaican parent, or is a naturalized citizen of Jamaica.
• Who has never been legally married

• Who has never given birth to a child

• Attained the age of 17 years on or before the 1st day of June, but shall not have attained the age of 26 years on that date.

• Be of good character and possess charm, poise, and personality and have beauty of face and figure.
• Be a person whose background is not likely to bring into disrepute the Miss Jamaica Beauty Pageant or Miss Jamaica World title or the Promoter or any person associated with them.

In addition,

• The potential contestant shall not have entered and will not enter into any contract with any other promoter or model agency which is or will be in force during the period of the contest which will require her personal appearance or publication of her name or photographs in association with any product or service save that, in the event the applicant is contracted to a promoter or model agency, the said promoter or Model Agency is willing to release the applicant from any such contract or contracts for the duration of the MJW 2013 Pageant and, in the event that the applicant wins the MJW 2013 Contest, for the period leading up to the termination of the MJW 2013 Pageant.

• The Promoter has the right, without giving any reason whatsoever; to bar any applicant from entering the Miss Jamaica World Contest whom she feels may bring the contest into disrepute.

Auditions

• There will be 2 Auditions held to select contestants with the potential to become finalists. The dates set for Auditions are June 1/ June 8 (Pre-Eliminations Show Audition) and June 15 (morning of the Eliminations Show). Contestants who are selected during the auditions will be invited to appear at the Eliminations Show. The contestants will be required to walk in a swimsuit (bikini or full-piece)

seeit deh, modest swimsuits are permitted

• with high-heeled shoes and wearing facial make-up in front of selected judges. In addition, the judges may ask the contestants questions about their background, their interest in the MJW Pageant, or other questions. Applicants not selected during the auditions will take no further part in the contest.

Miss Jamaica World Western

Miss Jamaica World Western is associated with the Miss Jamaica World Pageant.

• The Miss Jamaica World Western Pageant winners (Cornwall and Middlesex) will automatically be listed among the 20-25 contestants in the MJW 2013 Pageant. However, she must participate with all other applicants at the Eliminations Show on June 15

• You do NOT have to enter the Miss Jamaica World Western Pageant in order to enter the national Miss Jamaica World Pageant. You may enter the national pageant directly by participating in the audition process.

Elimination Show

• The Eliminations Show on June 15 will showcase the persons selected during the auditions process. The contestants will be required to walk in a swimsuit (bikini or full-piece) with high-heeled shoes and wearing facial make-up in front of selected judges. In addition, the judges may ask the contestants questions about their background, their interest in the MJW Pageant, or other questions. Each contestant must provide herself with the above for this event. At the end of the Elimination Show, 20-25 contestants will become the finalists for the MJW Pageant. At this event the finalists will be given sashes by their sponsors (provided by MJW Pageant). Applicants not selected during the Elimination Show will take no further part in the contest.

http://missjamaicaworld.com/2010/index.php/the-pageant/rules-criteria

[Emperah]

let us know when de self annihilation is over with and one can be their true self in any of these foolishness sintings.
Mek wi know when one nuh haffi be as yt as they can be to get in the contest and win.
Only ting is good fah is fi be all dem want u to be.

mi nuh kno which a dese "beauty" contess yuh a watch weh skimpin out is not pawt a de course

[Tropicana]

Bwoy you just fly in here. Where did you come from so quick? I haven't seen you around or spoken to you in ages. How have you been? Thought maybe you were no longer posting here.

A joke mi a mek.

Anyway, mi did tink you did gwan a you bed long time. I see you have strong opinions about this topic too.

Ethnocentrism has been a challenge and continues to be a concern for major International pageants. In Canada, we have had pageants like Miss Black Ontario, Miss Jamaica of Montreal and Miss Caribana where this was not the case. A number of Jamaican young ladies or young ladies with Jamaican parents have won Miss Black Ontario and gone on to do very well in film and television.

The slutty dressing is a relatively new phenomenon...it wasn't always so.

I posted above we have had 2 Miss Jamaica's who had Afros...clearly we need more.

[Tropicana]

andealyon.jpg





This is the year Andrea Lyon who worked for Air Jamaica entered...she had an Afro. Note not slutty attire or skimpy bathing suits in sight.

That was the last year that Jamaica officially sponsored the pageant due to the concerns about ethnocentrism. Up until then, it was just about impossible for a woman who wasn't White to win. That has changed.....very slowly...painfully slowly.

[Tropicana]

Miss Jamaica World 1978 - Joan Mcdonald

[Tropicana]

Here we have the first Black Miss Universe. Notice the modest swimsuit.

[Tropicana]

1963 Miss Jamaica Bernice Anderson


andreahaynes.jpg

Andrea Haynes Miss Jamaica 1988

[Tropicana]

My point is, we have had Miss Jamaica's who are not light skinned with weaves.

Pageant contestants used to dress modestly. I don't know when all of this slutty dressing and skimpy bathing suits business started.

We seem to be going backwards instead of forward.

[Tropicana]

Former Miss Black Ontario: Tonya Lee Williams

Tonya Lee Williams, Actress, Founder & Executive Director Reel World Film Festival. Born: England - Her parents are Jamaican

Tonya- Lee has a long list of accomplishments behind her name and some these include the Miss Black Ontario (1977), the Miss Oshawa Fiesta Queen (1977), the ACTRA Award of Excellence (2005), the Harry Jerome Award (2004), the International Women Achievers Award (2012) and the Martin Luther King Jr. Award (2012).
In 1994, Tonya auditioned for the role of Drucilla on Day Time TV’s Young and the Restless. While being there, creator William J. Bell saw the need for Drucilla to have a sister and named her Olivia. And right then and there Tonya was given the script to read for that role.

Tonya Lee Williams was born on July 12^th in London England and then moved to Jamaica when she was just a year old. Because of her health issues as a child, her mother ensured she was always involved in things she could enjoy; this included: dancing, piano playing and acting. Acting became Tonya’s own special interest and she enjoyed pretending she was a TV actress.
When Tonya and her mother immigrated to Canada, they moved to Oshawa, Ontario. Her mother, concerned that Tonya was becoming too much of a tomboy, registered her for finishing school in Toronto with Judy Welch.
After finishing school, Tonya started doing auditions for different shows and was able to land a spot dancing on the show Boogie. In 1977 she went to theatre school where she became known for the “wear a mustache” milk advertisement. She was also a cast member on the CTV series “Check it out”. In 1979, she went to Ryerson drama school and also juggled modelling for The Bay.
She later flew to New York where she got even more opportunities to be casted for different roles. In 1986 while she auditioned with Norman Lear, she remembers a “waking moment” when Gloria Rueben proclaimed “Tonya books everything”. She married Robert Simpson in 1983 but it ended in 1991; though she admitted that “Things didn’t work out” they however remain good friends.
During our conversation, Tonya mentioned that when she isn’t working she keeps busy by enjoying her life, either going for long drives or unplanned trips to Europe. She believes we should all be comfortable in our own skin. When Tonya isn’t on screen, taking those lovely long drives or getting her hair done at Azan’s (her favourite salon in Toronto), she can be found behind the lens as the Founder and Executive Director of ReelWorld Film Festival, an Canada-based initiative of which she is very proud

More: http://www.whoswhoinblackcanada.com/...-lee-williams/

[Tropicana]

Former Miss Black Ontario: Gloria Reuben - Jamaican Mother, 1/2 Sister of Jamaican-Born Actor, the late Dennis Simpson

Birth Name: Gloria ReubenBorn: 06/09/1964
Birth Place: Toronto, Ontario, CA

---

Gloria Reuben was born on June 9, 1964 in Ontario, Canada. Her mother was a singer from Jamaica and her father was a Canadian architect. Interested in music and dance from an early age, Reuben learned piano as a child and studied music and dance at the Canadian Royal Conservatory. In 1985, she briefly hosted the Canadian-produced children's show "Polka Dot Door" (TVOntario, 1971-1993), on which her half-brother, actor-singer Denis Simpson, had also served as a host since the late-1970s. Because her father was Caucasian, Reuben became a subject of brief controversy when she was crowned "Miss Black Ontario" in 1986. Attracted to acting after landing sporadic work in several commercials, Reuben made an early dramatic appearance in the Schoolbreak Special, "The Day They Came to Arrest the Book" (CBS, 1987). Encouraged by the experience, she moved to Los Angeles immediately thereafter and began to pick up guest spots on television series, including a 1988 turn on the Johnny Depp drama series "21 Jump Street" (Fox, 1987-1991).

Reuben gave series television another day in court when she took on a regular role on the short-lived "Raising the Bar" (TNT, 2008-09). Unfortunately, the legal drama, co-starring Mark-Paul Gosselaar, failed to gain a favorable verdict with audiences and was cancelled within a season. In 2011, she made a pair of appearances on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (NBC, 1999- ), a show on which she had made periodic guest turns as far back as 2002. Also that year, Reuben lent support to the seventh entry in the Tom Selleck series of crime dramas based on the works of novelist Robert B. Parker in "Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost" (CBS, 2011).

http://www.starpulse.com/Actresses/Reuben,_Gloria/Biography/

Star Studded Cast Come Together For A Noble Cause

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/extra/article.php?id=1223

[Tropicana]

Here is another pageant. Again what is the harm? Look at the goals.

Miss Black Beauty Canada Pageant.


The pageant was created to honor black beauty, to raise awareness for the minority cultural heritage, and community significance. In Canada, young black women have always remained an epitome of beauty; they symbolize beauty, brain and elegance, which is why we are packaging a beauty contest that will acknowledge and award intelligence, strength, confidence and inner-beauty.

We seek to showcase talents and promote cultural, social, and leadership status by providing a forum for today's black canadian women to express her viewpoints, talents and accomplishments to the world.

Fabliss World Entertainment Inc.
PRESENTS

MISS
BLACK BEAUTY CANADA 2013
"Beauty Pageant for a Cause" -- In Support of Sickle Cell Anemia
---------------------------------------------
SATURDAY, August 24, 2013

EARLY ARRIVAL IS STRONGLY SUGGESTED!!!!!
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You don't want to miss out any showcase on that day
Opening Dance by contestants
National Costume
Talent Show
Swimsuit competition
Evening Gown &
Crowning moment

http://eventzz.net/MISS-BLACK-BEAUTY-CANADA-PAGEANT--Toronto/253032348105888

[Emperah]

nothing from this era huh?
ie post 2001

[Tropicana]

I am not sure. Maybe around 2001 is when the pageants changed. Miss Caribana was discontinued.

I don't know how old the Miss Black Canada pageant has been going on but the last one took place last month.

I know that there was a Miss Black Britain. There is still a Miss Jamaica UK. http://www.missjamaicauk.com/

[Tropicana]

This is the last Miss Black Ontario I can find.