by Nicole Brown
by Stephanie Arthur-Worsop
Not Just world peace
W
hen beauty pageants started out as ‘local bathing suit competitions’, viewers and contestants alike would have had no idea what they would turn into. Fast forward six decades, and the Miss World organisation is celebrating its 60th birthday and the significance of their caption “Beauty with a Purpose”, is reflected upon. Beauty pageants have evolved into annual international organisations that aim to forge links between competing countries in a way that can’t be compared to any other global event. From past titleholders that would have defined themselves as swimsuit models, the current queens of elegance must also be intelligent, ambitious and passionate about genuine causes. Each pageant, national and international, has a different central aim that identifies them. In New Zealand, the pageant industry is a somewhat neglected piece of history, but one that has so much to offer. The umbrella of opportunity that is the Miss World New Zealand pageant encompasses the majority of titles that are now attainable for New Zealand women. Despite recent negative speculation around beauty pageants in the media, it cannot be denied that the potential to do great things is unlimited as a competitor. Different aspects of culture, fashion, beauty, talent and humanitarian causes, all combine to create an event that is so much more than a modeling of swimsuits. Each year, Miss World New Zealand selects their ‘purpose’. Last year, it was “Children of the Earthquake”, a Variety charity cause helping those children either orphaned or disadvantaged in some way by the Christchurch devastation. The contestants of the 2011 pageant raised a total of $15,000 – hardly a poor effort. As well as this added aspect, the current demands of a pageant contestant range from sports competitions to on the spot interviewstyle questioning on the economic situation of New Zealand. It is safe to say that beauty queens have to be so much more than runway worthy these days. If you manage to master all of that, there is then the added possibility of you representing your country in the international pageant of the same title. This chance to travel the world, meet new people, experience new cultures, develop skills, perform for thousands, all while doing some good in the world, leaves me wondering why more girls aren’t involved in pageants in New Zealand? It is also interesting to note that with the exception of New Zealand, Australia and Canada, other countries that actively participate in pageants receive up to US$3,000,000 for their national directors to promote the cause and candidates. In comparison, New Zealand only has annual budget of NZ$60,000 – which includes their charitable donations. Although the directors of national pageants are expected to attend their international counterparts, their travel comes out of their own pocket. As well as benefits for individuals, more substantial sponsorship and coverage of pageant events would mean that New Zealand as a nation could see what this world has to offer. With more candidates and promotional efforts behind the industry, New Zealand would be in direct exchange with foreign organisations which would endorse our tourism sector and help to put New Zealand on the map as a holiday destination. Considering all these points, it is safe to say that the pageant era of the 1950s has had an extreme makeover: extensive edition. These days, it’s more than just world peace. www.ausm.org.nz
sex
S
ex. It is no longer the taboo topic it used to be when the only acknowledgement of its existence was by tittering housewives at a Tupperware party. Nowadays its place in society is iconic; something constantly discussed, worshipped and eroticised. It’s everywhere! You just can’t seem to escape the overstimulated craze of having amazing sex. But where is the romance in it all? Is the youth of today no longer concerned with wooing or being wooed? It seems inevitable that we are propelling ourselves in a direction where the art of romance will only be referred to as a lost practise of the past. What is so different about society today that sex is no longer associated with romance? Part of the answer lies in the media. Music, movies, books, you name it; they have all broken down the barrier that deemed sex as being an inappropriate topic. In doing so, it has made the subject more widely accepted among circles; however, it has also eliminated the purity of the act. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for the breakdown of conservatism, but I find it hard to swallow the rambunctious treatment of the topic. “We take it to the bed, and then we take it to the floor. We chill for a second, then I hit that ass some more”. This Ray J song, Sexy Can I, is a perfect example of this. Youth listens to this music, and being the sponges we are, want a piece of this erotic cake. It is to be expected that you are not going to find romance in the hot (or not so hot) guy feeding you tequila shots and ushering you into the back of a taxi to experience what the media keeps referring to – steamy, unattached one nighters. With only a headache and possible regrets to greet you in the morning, it’s no surprise that romance is slipping through our fingers. Unfortunately we can’t blame all our bad judgements on the influence of the media despite how much we may want to. The fact that romance is becoming increasingly void from relationships can also be attributed to how trigger happy we are when it comes to getting under the covers with our latest beau. It almost seems ridiculous these days to expect people to save themselves for marriage, but this may be the key as to why we are missing that special component of courtship in our everyday lives. By jumping into sex so quickly, we completely disregard opportunities to experience the romance leading up to it. It is this romance that gives us emotional satisfaction, not boning as many people as you can. Finally, and I suspect this to be the leading cause of the negligence towards romance; men feel like they can’t live up to women’s expectations so they don’t risk it, settling for the more comfortable option of physical fulfilment. I have noticed of late, men complaining that fictitious characters (think Edward Cullen and Alexander Belov), are causing women to have unrealistic expectations of their partners. To an extent this may be true, but the situation is worsened by the fact that men would rather not try to be romantic at all out of fear that they will fall short. As a result, women are left to either lower their expectations for romance or face what they fear to be a life of loneliness. It appears that romance has developed a reputation of being highly unattainable. The thought of trying to achieve something that seems so difficult scares people and so we replace it with what we can gain more easily – sex. However, this doesn’t give us the emotional satisfaction we are seeking, leaving people in relationships feeling disgruntled and singles mistaking their steamy one night stand for a romantic date. If we keep shying away from romance because we don’t want to be disappointed, it will come to a point where the art is lost to us forever.
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