Let me open this by saying that I do not purposely hate the Miss Universe pageant. I am not here to lambast the said contest. In fact, to some degree, I honestly think that in their small, sometimes obscured way, they celebrate femininity and women empowerment—in the sense that they typify women as creatures both of beauty[i] and intellect. I’m sure that my feminist friends will kill me for that statement but I think that they do not objectify women. If we only let them parade in a bikini and ogle at their bodies and judge solely on the basis of their physical beauty, then probably yes, they are being objectified. If they are being forced to parade and dress scantily then they are in fact, being objectified. But nobody coerced these girls to join the pageant, they wanted to be there and compete. They wanted to represent their countries. And the Miss Universe, or as what its criteria for judging claims, is chosen not just for beauty and poise but for her charm and personality and most importantly her wit to answer a question in front of millions of people.
The objective of my ramblings however is not to talk about the nature of the beauty contests as it appeals to women but for gay people like me.
 |
| The fine, fresh and fierce winners of the 2011 Miss Gay Philippines Contest image courtesy of metrosexualsociety.blogspot.com |
Miss Universe has been deeply embedded in the gay subculture, like Broadway and the Tony’s. There is something about extravagant national costumes, sequined shiny shimmering long gowns and skin-tight bikinis that can certainly attract a typical gay guy. Heck, we even have our own versions of Miss Universe during barangay fiestas in the form of Miss Gay pageants. Sometimes the contestants look so ridiculously gorgeous that it’s hard to convince yourself there’s a man hiding inside all that femininity. Though more often than not, the local versions are watched for comedic purposes—as the contestants are seen as the butt of jokes and the object of silent ridicules. I don’t want to sound like an overbearing elitist, but there is a grain of truth to it. Most people watch Miss Gay pageants not because they want to see beauty but because they think it’s funny.
The homosexual fascination with beauty contests can be prominently seen in other countries as well. In the United States, we have the drag queens of New York City and the RuPaul subculture. In Thailand, we have the beauty contests held for kathoeys. We have the gay pageant coaches who make a career out of teaching young women how to work it on stage, how to wave perfectly to the audience and how to smile pretty for the judges.
So yet again, we are presented with another question: why do most gay guys (especially here in the Philippines) love beauty pageants so much that others declare it as a gay holiday? A time when almost all parlours and beauty salons shutdown and queer people convene to watch the (allegedly) most spectacular night in the whole universe? What makes the Miss Universe such a hit among homos? Is it an extension of the drag culture or the flamboyant and over-the-top costumes, the glitz and the glamour that are associated to drag queens? Is it a manifestation of gay men’s hidden and suppressed insecurities to become full-pledged women? Do we watch it for us to somehow fulfill our fantasies to be accepted socially and not to be just an object of ridicule? Is there something embedded in our genetic makeup that increases our propensity to be Miss Universe fanatics?
No one knows the real score exactly. It's just the way things are.
As a gay man, I have this thinking that society expects of me to be all giddy and excited about the Miss Universe pageant. But the thing is, I’m not. Admittedly, it’s one of the stereotypical curses I have to endure. And a stereotype, that as a not-so-typical gay man, I am fighting very hard against. And as what I have mentioned in my previous post, beauty contests and all things flamboyant just celebrate the diversity of the queer life. That although we do sports and other activities typical of a macho male heterosexual, some of us are also obsessed with beauty contests. I guess no matter what we do, whether we like it or not, pageants will always be associated with the gay identity.
 |
| Kodak Moments During the Miss U Telecast image courtesy of www.vincegolangco.com |
While I am not that keyed up in all the Miss Universe hype, I don’t exactly abhor it either. Am I happy that we have Miss U? I guess so, since it makes other gay men like me happy and a lot of people seem to be genuinely excited about it. Do I think that the world would be a better place without Miss Universe? Not exactly. So I stand in the middle ground when it comes to beauty contests. I can live with them, I can live without them. In plain words, I just don’t really care that much. I don’t follow it religiously, place bets and predict my own roster of top 16. And no I don’t scream hysterically in front of our TV when they call my name country come the announcement of winners. For me, it’s just another competition that I inevitably have to hear about and forget until the next year. But there are a lot of gay guys out there that do take it more seriously than I do; I’m just not one of them.
And the whole Miss Universe experience wouldn’t be complete if a gay guy will not answer the final question that would determine the most beautiful girl in the entire universe. So if I have to indulge my latent pageant-fanatic gay self, if I were to answer the question presented to Ms. Philippines, I would have said something like this:
Vivica Fox: Would you change your religious beliefs to marry the person you love? Why or why not?
My Answer:
*put right arms in waist, flashes a megawatt smile and does a semi hair flip*
“Good evening. Changing something in your belief system as big as the concept of religion is a deep personal choice. It follows a deep introspection and it shouldn’t be affected by an external factor such as the institution of marriage or pressure by your partner. It should not be an issue, because if what binds my partner and I is true, we should be able to make a compromise and make it work somehow as true love transcends all personal differences—even religion. Mabuhay Sao Paolo! Thank you.”
*Wave. Smile. Bow*
And speaking of the question at hand, we shall discuss this in detail, its good and bad side and how it affected the audience more than Shamcey Supsup in the next and final chapter of my Miss Universe ramblings.
(to be continued)
(to be continued)
[i] As the term is very subjective and to avoid ambiguity, the word beauty here will be the mainstream and conventional definition. Let me say that, I DO NOT think that this the ONLY definition of beauty but for discussion purposes, we will limit the definition of the term.
No comments:
Post a Comment