The Miss Universe contestant from the Philippines is this year’s winner, but for one brief moment Sunday evening, it appeared as if it might be a repeat win for Colombia.
Colombia contestant Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo was already wearing the crown as this year’s Miss Universe when host Steve Harvey returned to apologize.
Harvey said it was his mistake and that he would take responsibility for not correctly reading the card, which said that contestant Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach of the Philippines was this year’s winner and Colombia was actually the first runner-up.
(Associated Press, December 21, 2015)
Unsurprisingly, mainstream and social media are now replete with mocking, even racist comments on Harvey’s universal gaffe.
Granted, the world has not seen such a brain-dead spectacle since, well, the 2007 Miss Teen USA. That’s when a judge asked Miss South Carolina why so many Americans can’t even locate the USA on a map. The southern beauty proceeded to demonstrate why by wandering all over the map, ending up somewhere in Iraq with her incomprehensible response.
What nobody seems to appreciate, however, is that, but for Harvey’s gaffe, 90 percent of the people commenting today would not have even known this pageant happened yesterday. I am Exhibit A.
In fact, most pageants make news these days not for the beauties they showcase, but for the scandals they cause; hence my commentary, “Want to ‘Win’ Miss USA? Make a Fool of Yourself,” June 20, 2013.
But, no, Harvey did not allow pageant organizers to use him as a dupe just to generate this post-pageant media sensation. He’s too proud for that. He just fu*ked up!
Of course, nothing generates interest quite like public humiliation. Therefore, organizers are probably eager to have Harvey host again next year. No doubt they’d get better ratings if only a fraction of the people reveling in his gaffe on social media actually tune in. Never mind that these viral rubberneckers would be watching just to see him commit another one.
My heart goes out to Miss Colombia. But it’s absurd to think she deserves to share the crown just because she was a victim of Harvey’s gaffe.
After all, Miss Philippines was a victim too, having the crowning moment of her life botched in this embarrassing fashion. Never mind that the media attention she’s getting today is easily the most she’ll get during her entire reign.
As for Miss Colombia, she should just wipe away her tears and move on to a career peddling her beauty. At the very least, this could include a stint as a lookalike or body double for Sofía Vergara. The resemblance, in looks and background, is simply uncanny!
Frankly, the real story is the number of feminists who chimed in as much to condemn all beauty pageants as to pile on poor Steve Harvey.
To them, I repeat this:
I’ve been trying for years, to no avail, to get my feminist friends to see the contradiction inherent in their opposition to beauty pageants. They continually insist that, like prostitution, these pageants degrade women and only reinforce traditional notions of male chauvinism.
My more evolved and consistent view is that, like prostitution, beauty pageants reflect the choices feminists fought so hard for women to be free to make. This is why I see nothing wrong with fully liberated and intelligent women choosing to be prostitutes (whose profession should be decriminalized) or beauty queens. It is also why I accuse my feminist friends of engaging in an ironic form of paternalism by hurling indignation at women who make these choices.
(“Miss Angola Wins Miss Universe,” The iPINIONS Journal, September 14, 2011)
Congratulations, Miss Philippines!
That said, I feel obliged to note that none of the contestants from my Caribbean Commonwealth made the Top 10, along with eventual winner Miss Philippines, first runner-up Miss Colombia, and second runner-up Miss USA. Mind you, we have some of the most beautiful women in the universe. It’s just that beauty pageants don’t rank too high among their extracurricular activities.
Still, I was pleasantly surprised to see a Black beauty from Japan, of all places, showing and strutting her stuff upon the stage among the finalists.
Way to go, Ariana Miyamato!
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