蜜桃传媒在线观看入口

Miss Universe Takes Steps Forward ... and Backward in the Same Year

A 蜜桃传媒在线观看入口 junior writes about important social strides taken by the most recent Miss Universe pageant, as well as some competition missteps that revealed much remaining room for improvement.

MissUniverse

On December 17, Miss Universe 2018 aired, surprising its audience with a new commitment to inclusion and diversity. This was the first year, for example, that a transgender contestant, Miss Spain, 脕ngela Ponce, participated in the competition. The runway was populated by short and natural hair, and even the luxurious swimwear and evening gowns were less constrictive and strayed from gender norms. To top it all off, the selection committee was entirely female, combating claims of inherent misogyny in 鈥渂eauty鈥 pageants. I鈥檓 glad to see the organization as a whole is taking steps to change for the better, but a couple of things transpired during the 2018 competition that bothered me.

Steve Harvey, comedian, and host, was dragged after infamously  in a previous year's competition. It was important for Harvey to be on his best behavior to make up for this incident. After a couple of bland jokes about spicy Thai food鈥攖he competition was held in northern Bangkok鈥擧arvey gaffed yet again as he introduced the top 20 contestants: Marta St臋pie艅, Miss Canada, is a student and researcher of biomedical engineering. When she started her occupation as an engineer/model, Harvey advised: 鈥淓ngineering isn鈥檛 fun. Just go with the modeling. You get to travel the world and wear nice clothes.鈥

If only modeling was that easy (or any job in the fashion industry for that matter). Comments like these undermine the important and exhausting work models put into being the face of an industry. Perhaps Harvey can focus on the fun in life when he receives a paycheck no matter how many times he fails, but for the women competing鈥攚ho have built libraries, fought tuberculosis, and escaped child marriages鈥攖he comment seemed tone-deaf.

Also ill-advised was an Instagram Live Feed of Miss U.S.A., Sarah Rose Summers, . She called Miss Vietnam, H'Hen Ni锚, 鈥渃ute鈥 for 鈥渢rying so hard鈥 to understand her English. In another scene, 鈥減oor [Miss] Cambodia,鈥 Rern Sinat, was the target of Summers鈥 condescension for being unable to communicate with her fellow contestants. After being called out by viewers, Summers explained her perceived bigotry was simply misunderstood concern.

Other fashion brands and famous figures have tried using this excuse to downplay their own 鈥渕isunderstandings鈥 in 2018. Gucci鈥檚 Autumn/Winter collection sent models down the runway wearing Sikh turbans, although no Sikh models were present. Dolce and Gabbana鈥檚 D&G Loves China show was canceled in Shanghai after a promotional video of a Chinese woman clumsily eating Italian food with chopsticks sparked fury online. Chief Marketing Officer of Victoria鈥檚 Secret, Ed Razek, told Vogue that plus-sized and transgender models wouldn鈥檛 be featured on the runway because they are not anyone鈥檚 fantasy.

Well, when 脕ngela Ponce walked the Miss Universe stage, this was a fantasy realized for many women who've had a very hard time gaining acceptance in the modeling and beauty industries.

The fashion industry is driven in large part by women of color, plus-sized women, transgender women, and engineers/models. Miss Universe 2018 deserves credit for putting these faces in the spotlight, but the competition still has a long way to go and an obligation to make up for its mistakes.

Still, even with these unfortunate moments, Miss Universe 2018 felt like a welcome break. (Though, I can鈥檛 say I鈥檓 excited to see Harvey back in 2019.)