This past Saturday marked the first ever Miss Philippines California Pageant, held in San Diego. Seven women competed for the title and were judged in four sections: preliminary interview, fitness wear, evening gown, and on-stage interview.
Ultimately, Frances Pascua, a 23-year-old born in Manila and raised in San Diego, was crowned Miss Philippines California 2010, along with 1st runner-up Deja Urbanovitch and 2nd runner-up Huliana Poyrazoglu.
Each contestant chose a platform, or a cause, to represent. Pascua chose Gawad Kalinga, an organization whose mission is to build homes for impoverished families in the Philippines.
Pageants have a long history of civic-mindedness in the Pilipina/o American community. The first Pilipina/o American pageants date back to the 1910s, during a time when few Pilipinas lived in the U.S. due to immigration restrictions that barred Asian women from immigrating to the U.S.
Pilipina/o Americans saw pageantry as a way to 1) celebrate the few Pilipina American women they had in their communities, 2) fundraise for causes "back home" and in their own communities as well (e.g. helping flood victims in the Philippines, building a local community center), and 3) provide a space for Pilipina/o Americans to congregate during a time when racial segregation kept Pilipina/o Americans and other people of color out of most public venues.
This charitable aspect continued in the decades to come, but Pilipina/o American pageants faced the same scrutiny and challenges that other pageants faced in the second half of the 20th century amidst the feminist movements. In 1977, two second-generation Pilipina Americans, Marline Tuyay and Aida Lucero, entered the Miss Philippines pageant in San Diego not to win the title but to publicly advocate for more political activism and involvement from the Pilipina/o American community instead of focusing so much on pageants.
Despite the scrutiny, pageantry remains highly popular in the Pilipina/o diaspora. But these challenges have also shaped the face and focus of Pilipina/o American pageantry today.
When I asked Miss Philippines California Pageant Director Cheryl Daen, a former Miss Philippines San Diego herself, why she decided to start this pageant, she replied, "With so many positive accomplishments stemming from our upcoming generation of young adults, it is important for them to have a statewide program to unite and celebrate themselves."
In fact, Daen's vision is what attracted Pascua to the pageant: "I decided to turn in my application because of the pageant’s goal: 'to celebrate the accomplishments of young women in the state of California.' I also wanted to be more involved in the Pilipino-American community on a state-wide level."
As a feminist, I could go on and on about the negative aspects of pageantry in general, from the swimsuit competition (which the Miss Philippines California Pageant omitted) to the cliché pageant questions and even more cliché answers (world peace, anyone?) But after writing my honors thesis on Pilipina/o American pageantry, I've come to realize that the positive contributions of pageantry must be recognized as well.
*Photos courtesy of BKM Photograph (http://www.bkmphotog.com/)
Comments
I wonder if anyone is planning a Mr. Philippines California Pageant. That could be pretty interesting.
Not that I know of, but that definitely would be interesting. Male pageants have traditionally been body building contests (think Mr. Universe), but lately I've been seeing more male pageants that have a very similar setup to the female pageants. Usually, they'll start up when a female pageant has been successful for a while (e.g. the Miss Vietnam San Diego pageant has been well-received over the past several years, and last year they started the Mr. Vietnam San Diego pageant).
It'd be great to see more male and female pageants that are like the Mr. Hyphen Magazine pageant, in which representatives of non-profit organizations compete in a pageant in hopes of winning money for their organizations.