Blowing Water | Why stop at swimsuit contests? Let’s scrap beauty pageants altogether
Women no longer need such platforms for validation or to achieve their goals, Luisa Tam argues
When was the last time you watched a beauty pageant or even thought about it? For me, it was 25 years ago, but I remember it as if it were yesterday. It was a day after I gave birth to my daughter, and I was recuperating in a hospital bed, so that meant I was restricted to what was on the television above my bed: the annual Miss Hong Kong pageant.
The contest, hosted by TVB, was once viewed as the biggest and most spectacular local annual event, not only as an entertainment entity but also as a citywide community event.
In Hong Kong, watching the pageant every summer was like taking part in a traditional ritual. The contestants felt like they were being honoured as an integral part of the city, while spectators were privileged enough to witness the “birth” of the prettiest Hong Kong woman, whom the city could be proud of to represent it on the world stage.
The pageant, since it was established in 1973, has produced many outstanding title-holders who have gone on to develop showbiz careers, as it’s quite typical for winners and top contestants to be awarded television contracts with TVB. Some became movie stars or glamorous socialites, or ended up marrying into reputable local families.
Back in the old days, there weren’t many politically charged events happening to get the blood of Hongkongers boiling, so the only occasion that was guaranteed to raise the city’s temperatures was this annual pageant.