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Inside a Chinese Beauty Pageant

2017-09-15 ShanghaiWOWeng

You have probably heard of Miss Universe (unless you have spent your days locked in a garage with only your pet aardvark for company.) You have probably heard of Miss World maybe even Miss Earth, but what about The Zhang Jiang Goddess..? Yeah... Neither had I.



Miss Earth is the third biggest beauty pageant in the world. It tries to go beyond the scope of usual pageants and focuses on the environment as well as having good hair and a banging bikini bod. However, before you get to Miss Earth you have to go through small regional pageants like the Zhang Jiang Goddess. Think of it as a 'gateway' pageant, if you will.

I was lucky enough to be invited along and introduced to a couple of the girls.\


I was really curious to meet them. I had watched a few pageants online and found the contestants pretty vapid, so I was interested to see how these girls would stack up to my expectations.


Off I trundled to the Parkyard hotel in the Zhang Jiang Tech Park and there I met Effy Sun and Wendy Yang. They are both young (23), beautiful and employed by companies in the Zhang Jiang Tech Park and work in HR and PR respectively.



Me: Why did you decide to do a beauty pageant?

Wendy: At first it was just because I wanted to represent my company in this competition, but I soon realized that there was a lot I could learn from this competition that would enrich my life.

Effy: I felt similarly, I love a challenge and I have never done anything like this before.


Me: Do you think the beauty pageant will help your career?

Wendy: Yeah, I think so. Through this competition, I have had the chance to get to know a lot of companies in the Zhang Jiang Tech Park both enterprises and individual people. Networking is always a good thing and not only have I gained friends but also business contacts.

Effy: I think it will help me in my career because it has helped me to become more confident. I have had to become use to people looking at me, to being the centre of attention. I think that will really help me.

Wendy: For part of my PR job I have to organize big events, seeing how this was run is really going to help me when it comes to planning other events.


Me: What do your friends and family think?

Effy: My family are really supportive, they think it will help me to become more beautiful and confident, as well as allow me to meet new people.

Wendy: My family are the same. They want me to do more!


Me: What about your co-workers?

Wendy: They support me because I am representing our company! My boss thinks it’s great!

Effy: My colleagues think I’m very brave!



Speaking to the girls I could see the nerves and excitement radiating off of them. It felt strange to think that I would soon be in a crowd of 500 people watching them walk up and down a catwalk in a bikini. No matter what you think of beauty pageants, you have to be mad or very very brave to stand up and do that in front of all of your friends, family and co-workers, knowing that you are there to be judged.


The day of the pageant rolled around and I arrived along with the other guests, everyone was dressed to impress, all the men in sharp suits and the women in beautiful black tie dresses. We were ushered to our seats as the show began.


To begin with the girls entered the stage and introduced themselves, there was some dodgy choreographed dancing and flowers were given to the contestants, the crowd was getting excited and neon signs flashed.



Next up was the swim wear section, this is the bit I found a bit strange… As I watched these young girls strut up and down the runway in their bikinis being judged on their bodies I suddenly remembered I was a feminist and this is none of the stuff I stand for.  Is this empowering for women or demeaning? The jury is still out on that one…


Last up was the gown section, this is the part all the girls were really looking forward too. I snuck back stage to chat to Effy and Wendy as they got ready. The scene that met my eyes was complete carnage, 20 plus women crammed into a tiny room struggling into enormous ball gowns with huge trains. One thing I noticed among the chaos was the camaraderie between them. They were all helping each other do up hard to reach zippers and laces, chatting, laughing and complimenting each other.



Out on the stage it was a different matter, the seriousness was back, each girl strutted her stuff in unbelievably high heels the dresses were beautiful and ranged from modern takes on traditional Chinese dresses, western ball gowns and a few rather scantily clad women in dresses I usual associate with figure skating. Either way they all looked beautiful.

 

There was a rather long awards ceremony where prizes were handed out. They began by handing out trophies for popularity and kindness and then moved on to the big one, the Zhang Jiang goddess prize.


 

Unfortunately Effy and Wendy didn’t win this one. (I actually felt really emotional about it, I found myself really rooting for them.) But they did both come away with a trophy; one was a special recognition award and one ‘Popularity Diva’ award.  (I clearly know how to pick a winner.)


 

I hung out with the girls after the show and there was a sense of jubilation and excitement in the air. Everyone was hugging, congratulating each other and admiring the size of their trophies.


Overall my first beauty pageant was a strange one. In some ways I was outraged by the objectification of women… being judged by a group of predominantly middle-aged men. Yet another part of me felt so proud of Effy and Wendy, for putting themselves out there and having the guts to strut their stuff.


Either way… It was a pretty unique experience, if you ever get the chance to attend a beauty pageant, give it a whirl… You never know you might like it…



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