So I've been sitting my princess tower, cooking in fake bake, painting my nails and waiting for my prince charming to come rescue me and take me to the golf field, I came across an article about beauty pageants, written by Rowan Pelling (I actually used the internet to read instead of just update my profile picture!!) This article, written in a highly respectable newspaper that is the Telegraph, who actually print news worthy stories, tells the tale that Beauty pageants here in the UK are outdated, sexist, a “freak show” as she puts it in her own words, where there is hardly anyone competing. She goes on to suggest that the girls who do want to compete are only competing to find their future husband, they lack ambition, drive and common sense. Oh Honey, hold these pageant earrings whilst I tell you a little story about the true side of beauty pageants, the side you didn’t bother to research because you decided that you would go with the stereotype of a beauty queen
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(Hand on hip even as a child)
I come from a big family, on the poverty line, we worked hard for what we had and asked for little. I was made fun of for my “poor” clothes, for not fitting in with the other children, for speaking differently to the county slang. I studied hard, got good grades, I wasn’t a bad looking teenager but I was overcome with shyness from those school days. I could of gone to Oxford, Cambridge, married a rich upper class man and settled down in the countryside with the perfect 2.5 children and dog. Instead, as soon as I was 16 I left school, fell in love, ditched the studies and did some real learning. Life is cruel, life is not a fairytale.I had my mid life crisis when I was 20, waking up and thinking life is so much better than this! I studied hard, got a degree as well as working full time with children, as well as doing my childcare qualifications (there is a brain in my airhead somewhere, it’s underneath all that hair), then changed all that to pursue a career in Personal Training, which I adore! The one thing I have to thank for all of this? Pageants.
“But why Hannah, if you were bullied about your looks, would you go into a contest which is solely based on how you look? Why would you want to be judged?”. Because in this society you are judged before you are even born, you will always be judged. You will be judged on how you speak, where you come from, your education, experience, life choices, every single thing you do. Why not take charge of the situation and stand proud that you are who you are? Rowan says that woman nowadays would, “rather eat their copy of Catlin Moran’s How to be a Woman than see their vital statics shown in public”. These are the days of face book, Instagram and Twitter where people put their whole lives on display, from the holiday snaps, selfie generation and daily status about their lives? And woman are worried about those little numbers? If Rowan had researched pageants properly she would of found that the Miss England competition took out the bikini round of the finals way before Miss World removed the swimwear round out from it’s markings. That there are other pageants which don’t have this round at all, instead allowing the contestant to decide whether they want to show as much or as little flesh as possible. They certainly do no put your vital stats up for show, I don’t think in the 5 years of doing pageants, I’ve had to give my hip measurements and have them for the whole world wide internet to see.
Pageants have given me more experience in life than school and college could of ever given me, they have taught me the skills to be my own individual, to have the confidence to speak to hundreds of people, to follow my dreams and not let society change who I am as a person. We have the steryotype of pageant girls being stupid, of not having two brain cells to rub together, the “world peace” mentality. Well let me tell you a little something for free, there are girls who chose to do pageants and have degrees! Yes, a pageant girl can read!! We can even write and be allowed to socialise with others too! There are girls who are Doctors, Engineers, Footballers, Athletes, Teachers! We can provide for ourselves, do these look like the sort of girls who are entering beauty pageants to find their new husbands/wives?! No! We are SASSY, independent woman, who can confidently walk out on that catwalk in our bikini, evening gown, hell even our birthday suit if we chose because we call the shots!
“They would rather be Beyonce than be Miss UK”, well you better believe us beauty pageant girls are better than Beyonce!! It is true that pageants are not as televised as much as they were in the 70s, but there is still a thriving pageant community in the UK. You just need to look. And with it, comes pageant idols, pageant friendships, the millions raised by pageant girls all across the UK. They are girls who aspire to become pageant queens when they are older, we are the positive role model for our community. We are one big pageant family, bound together by sequins and glitter. Like all families, there are fallouts, backstabbing and bitchiness but do you know what? We wipe that mascara off, adjust our crowns, pageant group hug and live our lives. I don’t want to be Beyonce, ok maybe just a little, but I am happy wearing my crown and sash with pride because I am Hannah Golding. I have represented my town, county and even country. I have travelled far, meeting friends for life and life experiences you can’t put a price tag on.
When I first put on that evening dress, a week before my 21st birthday, shaking, nervous, fixing my hair and trying not to rush to the toilet, I changed from a girl to a woman. I walked away not with the main crown, but instead of crying, I got back up and started again. This “freak show” seems so funny to me because I don’t see any freaks, just girls dressing up and making themselves feel good about themselves. You can say that we are setting ourselves up for failure, they are judging you on your looks! Wrong, pageants don’t just go by looks alone. You have to put in the work, community work, charity work, personality, poise, social skills, if you think the prettiest crown gets a crown then you are very wrong. I am not the best looking girl in the world (……. Oh I was waiting for a of course you comment, moving on…..) but I know I’ve been awarded my titles based more than just this face, I have a personality to match and a big smile (unless it’s in the morning sorry). I’m the pageant clown, the one who makes the girls laugh, and to me I would not change that in anyway as I come away with something better than the prize money, I come away with new friends.
I know it’s totally american, peace and love, but then that’s me stereotyping! Pageant girls are not the dumb bimmbos, they are not just searching for a man, it’s the same as saying white people can’t dance (I assure you my running man is top notch!), that blondes are dumb. All these sayings need to go back in the past from where they came on. Rowan, I really hope that you attend a pageant in the UK, and see for yourself all the hard work we do. I hope next time, instead of enraged a lot of us queens, you do your research! All it takes is a quick search on facebook (even I can do that!). But you know, us pageant girls don’t hate, we chuck on some heels and strut out of the place.
Now, where the pizza at?!!
Disclaimer: I do not have a princess tower sadly, however I do have a very colourful flat with Princess covers so you could say it’s a tower? Also I have never used fake bake, that was following what Rowan had wrote.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11735998/Whats-so-wrong-about-being-a-beauty-queen.html
Lots of pageant love
Hannah Golding
Face of the Globe Team England 2014-16
Like on facebook: facebook.com/hannahgoldingbeautyqueen
Tweet on twitter: @englandperfectm
Follow on Instagram: @hannahbarbieg
Official pictures by Paul Carroll and CMG Photography- Copyright
