The Truth About Pageants: 8 Pageant Myths Debunked
With so many myths surrounding pageants, it’s hard to tell facts from fiction sometimes. If you're a pageant newbie, be cautious about the information and advice you listen to, as it is not always true.
Starting pageants at the young age of 12, I was very impressionable of the information surrounding me. However, now with over 8 years of experience in the industry, I have learned that they are not always the case. Keep reading to untangle the truth about pageant myths, so you can avoid falling into the same negative and misinformed mind-set that I once had.
‘Pageant Queens have to look a certain way’
There are absolutely no criteria on how a pageant girl should look. Take a look at previous winners, and you'll see a range of women varying in hair colour, skin colour, height, body types; every pageant girl is unique, so embrace your individuality and rock the stage!
‘You can’t win in a green dress’
As outrageous as it sounds, this a well-known myth amongst us pageant girls, but rest assured, it is not true. Green is traditionally not a common colour to be seen on stage due to the manufacturing of gowns causing them to be a little less readily available in comparison to other colours. In my opinion, green is a great standout colour and looks fabulous on stage, especially against more porcelain skin tones.
Still not convinced? Take a look at these Miss Universe contestants, you will be able to spot South Africa who went on to win the Miss Universe title.
‘Pageants are anti-feminist’
The core of pageantry revolves around women supporting women, empowering each other, and using our sash to help communities and charities close to us. An example of this very close to my heart is our community Facebook groups ‘The Pageant Network’ and ‘The North-East Pageant Network’. These platforms have been created and used to support each other first hand, from charity work, advice, helping with appearances, sponsors, or even to make friends.
If you are interested in joining these groups, please contact me directly.
‘Pageant girls are not intelligent’
This is probably the biggest misconception surrounding queens who have been unfairly mislabelled. Many pageant queens are also doctors, lawyers, business owners, and even NASA employees, with high flying careers as well as pageant successes. Take the current Miss England Bhasha Mukherjee as an example, who is also working as a junior doctor.
‘You have to be tall to win a pageant'
Not at all! A strong walk, big personality, and a captivating stage presence are much more valuable and eye-catching to the judges than height. There are no height restrictions to join pageants in the UK, and it is definitely not something the judges will mark you on, so let your personalities shine and own the stage!
‘You have to be a certain age to compete’
With the ever-growing industry now including divisions such as Ms, Mrs and Classic offering opportunities for women who are married, divorced, have kids or have aged out of regular divisions, there is a pageant for everybody. You are never too young, or too old to compete.
‘You have to be a size 6’
This is an extremely outdated myth that deserves to be kept in the past. Pageants celebrate women of all body types and sizes so please do not feel the need to look a certain way. All bodies are beautiful and deserve to be shown off!
‘You have to wear a new dress every time you compete’
Absolutely not! We all know pageant dresses can be a little pricey at times, therefore I am a huge advocate of recycling dresses or wearing second hand. I have personally worn the same fashion wear for 3 pageants, Miss Teen Galaxy UK, Galaxy International and handover for Teen Galaxy. Joanna Johnson has also worn the same dress to two international pageants, where she won the second time and was crowned Miss Galaxy. Take a look below…
And there you have it! I hope this clears up some pageant misconceptions and helps you on, or encourages you to begin, your journey to the crown.
Harriotte x