On Beauty

My nineteen year old niece took part in a local beauty pageant recently. Yes, in 2008 we still have beauty contests except that now the onus is on organizers to pretend that personality matters. That and it helps to have a degree so that the judges can keep up the charade they are looking for more than leggy lovely's with tiny waists.

Anyway, I won't lie -- when I heard she was taking part in the Miss x pageant I was absolutely horrified. My husband told me I was a being a snob about the whole thing and that if her looks were going to help her to achieve in life than she should go for it.

I managed to get out of the semi final citing work commitments but I really had to attend the final to show solidarity with my niece. To be honest I knew she didn't stand a chance of winning. She has a gorgeous face which she inherited from my sister's in laws (ie. she doesn't look like us) but she is lacking in the height department and is also a tad curvaceous. (Guess what she got from us?)

So the big night arrived and my niece did herself proud during the interview section. She is training to be a beautician and she talked a bit about her work and career hopes and aspirations and so on. She really did well.

I was completely taken aback by the girls with college degrees who couldn't string a sentence together. Young women with finance degrees who had no idea how to communicate other than to 'big themselves up.' Now self affirmation is not the Irish way. We just don't take kindly to people who go on about how wonderful/talented they are. It just has never been part of our psyche.

But there they were regaling the host with stories about how they were combining college with waterpolo and learning languages as they carried out charitable work near their home etc etc etc. It was one of the most boring nights of my life. By and large the girls showed no trace of personality. They were just there to win. The competition was a stepping stone to bigger things. A bonus for girls who had lucked out on the genetic lottery.

The winner was announced and it was a tall, thin girl who was in her final year as a medical student. I remembered her interview and she had really impressed me. She wasn't the prettiest of the girls but I thought she had the whole overall package of looks, brains and charm. So I was glad that she had triumphed if a little sad for my young niece.

I don't really know where I am going with this post. I suppose I just found the whole event a bit depressing. I am not opposed to beauty pageants per se but surely they are just relics of another age? Is there really a place for them in modern society?

That said I must admit my self esteem was truly rocked by seeing tonnes of 5ft 11 inch girls who were ten years younger, thinner and far prettier than me. At one stage my niece introduced me to two contestants saying "This is my Auntie". The two pretty giraffes smiled at me and said 'Hello' with the same tone of voice I probably unwittingly use with old people in nursing homes.

Maybe I am jealous of their youth and beauty. Perhaps I am becoming more conscious of my own mortality as 33, the year of the crucifixion draws near!

But something about that night made me deeply uncomfortable -- and it wasn't just the pair of magic knickers that I bought to keep my protruding stomach under control.