I love attention, but I live in fear that someone will google me and find my glamour headshots. I still have close friends that don’t know I subjected myself to competing in the Miss Alaska’s Outstanding Teen Scholarship Pageant. When I told those around me in the past, it was more often than not followed by, “You? You did a pageant?” Based upon movie cliches and stereotypes, doing a pageant could not have been further out of character for me. Except, I had decided pageantry was the very best way to provide myself with the validation any freshman girl in high school believes she needs. This was an opportunity to give me a voice for advocacy, perform and be on stage which I so loved, and the possibility of winning thousands of dollars in scholarships towards schools of my choice.
The Miss Alaska’s Outstanding Teen Pageant had four portions: fitness, talent, platform, and beauty. Fitness was a more age appropriate adaptation of the ever-popular “swimsuit contest,” in which each girl proved …show more content…
Except, I was quickly met with opposition as contestants were given restrictions when choosing their platforms. Among suggestions of, “Literacy Education for Children” or “The Obesity Epidemic”, I wasn’t allowed to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, subject matter that was remotely “feminist”, or anything else I was passionate about as they were too “controversial” of topics. I had to choose a topic for people who were there to judge pretty girls, not debate the rights and the wrongs of the world. The platform I created was, “Do You, Be You”, the advocacy to embrace our differences at young ages to prevent bullying and promote acceptance, but I diluted what I believed in to be able to sell it to a judge. I lost the real meaning of my
The Miss Alaska’s Outstanding Teen Pageant had four portions: fitness, talent, platform, and beauty. Fitness was a more age appropriate adaptation of the ever-popular “swimsuit contest,” in which each girl proved …show more content…
Except, I was quickly met with opposition as contestants were given restrictions when choosing their platforms. Among suggestions of, “Literacy Education for Children” or “The Obesity Epidemic”, I wasn’t allowed to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, subject matter that was remotely “feminist”, or anything else I was passionate about as they were too “controversial” of topics. I had to choose a topic for people who were there to judge pretty girls, not debate the rights and the wrongs of the world. The platform I created was, “Do You, Be You”, the advocacy to embrace our differences at young ages to prevent bullying and promote acceptance, but I diluted what I believed in to be able to sell it to a judge. I lost the real meaning of my