Beauty Pageant Uses United Nations Name But Is NOT UN
Author: Womens UN Report Network
Date: April 29, 2013
WUNRN
BEAUTY PAGEANT USES UNITED NATIONS
NAME BUT IS NOT UN
United Nations Pageants
Visit the website and subsite – Look
for National Directors (Blank), for Sponsors (Blank)…….
“The pageant’s principal objective is to identify and showcase the
world’s best tourism cause ambassadors; those who have the skills, talents
and personalities best suited to promote their respective countries in
furtherance of tourism, international goodwill and cultural harmony.”
_____________________________________________________
https://www.un.org/en/aboutun/index.shtml
The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 after
the Second World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international
peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting
social progress, better living standards and human rights. There are now
193 Member States/Countries that are part of the United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/mainbodies/
_____________________________________________________________
“UNITED NATIONS”
INTERNATIONAL PAGEANT IS NOT UN
Contestants are called
ambassadors and have a good roster of civic involvements. The reality is, the
U.N. wants nothing to do with it.
Contestants in the 2012-2013 United Nations
International Pageant. Credit: United Nations International Pageant.
WOMENSENEWS)–Erin Morgart,
a model, fitness trainer and married mother of two
who lives in Virginia Beach, Va., has
about two months to go before the United Nations International Pageant kicks
off in
But for
the contestant — who is last year’s holder of the Mrs. United Nations USA title
–preparations are in full swing, which means in addition to maintaining a top
physical and emotional state, she is reading up on the workings of the United
Nations.
“They
probably would not ask about the United Nations during the interview
process,” says Morgart, referring to the contestant officials. “But
you have to be prepared, just like you would be for any kind of bodybuilding
competition, to make sure that you are physically at your weight, emotionally
and mentally prepared for everything.”
As is also
the case at the U.N. headquarters, where political progress and setbacks are
guided by the art of diplomacy, country representation is equally key at the
U.N. pageant, Morgart says.
“It
helps if you can speak other languages,” says Morgart, who knows French,
Italian and Latin. “It’s about why do you see yourself as a good
representative for your country, for the
and how could you help bring tourism there?”
Despite the pageant’s name and special prep, however, the United Nations is not actually
connected to the event. In fact, the United
Nations wishes the marketing company that runs the event would
stop using the U.N. name and emblem.
“We’ve asked them to cease and desist,” U.N. spokesperson Farhan
Haq told Women’s eNews in a terse e-mail response.
Six Categories of Contestant
But the
event continues for its third year, with contestants competing in six
categories for men, women and teens.
A Miss Teen
United Nations contestant must be between 13 and 19 and single. A Mrs. United Nations must be over the age of 21 and married
to a naturally born genetic male, as the pageant’s site describes. And Mr. United Nations must be over 19, but may be
married, divorced or single.
Contestants,
ranging in age from 16 to mid-40s, will be judged on beauty and fitness and
will don different outfits: business attire, fashion wear, athletic wear and
national traditional dress. Although the pageant eschews the swimsuit contest,
Morgart says physical appearance is weighed heavily.
The
contestants are also judged on their interactions with other delegates and with
the general public, says Soyini Fraser. A native of
Nations, Fraser adds that those points earned are
incorporated into the interview segment, which constitutes 50 percent of a
contestant’s scoring.
When
Fraser was crowned last year, she also won $10,000, and has since received free
trips outside her country as a Miss Teen United Nations
representative. Her new title has helped her and team of collaborators start a
charity that supports hard-pressed children’s organizations in rural
The
pageant refers to contestants as ambassadors, a title that is intended to
follow them long after the three-day pageant concludes, says co-founder L.N. Williams,
who would like to see the event send winners back to their communities and use
the power of their crowns to do good.
“We
want everybody to become ambassadors to make a difference in a humanitarian
capacity, to reach out to people to those less fortunate, to take charge in
creating changes and making an impact in other people’s lives,” Williams
said in a phone interview.
As in most pageants, contestants pay to enter. Morgart says preparation
fees can stack up to a few thousand dollars for a typical pageant.
Contestants Unable to
Compete
As at the United
Nations, where full participation in the Security Council and
General Assembly is restricted by politics and global powers, not all hopeful
contestants have the chance to compete.
“For
the
close to 80 delegates but securing a visa was a big issue for a lot of
contestants, especially from African and Asian countries, so we had to cut the
number of delegates to 60 from 80,” Williams says.
Tania Gonzalez-Teran, 40, won the title of Mrs.
United Nations last year, representing
A model, sales representative and a regular pageant
attendee, Gonzalez-Teran says this pageant was a little bit
different from the others. For one thing, it’s open to slightly older women, she
says.
“When
you are a ‘Miss’ it seems to be much easier. You have more confidence. And as
you get older you are more aware of everything happening to your body, your
flaws. Your body is not the same, because you are not the same girl you used to
be,” says Gonzalez-Teran. “But that becomes an even bigger challenge
and motivates you to be even better.”
Since the
contest also looks at entrants’ community involvement, Gonzalez-Teran, born in
but raised mostly in
up on her Spanish in anticipation of the pageant. She readied to answer
questions about her native country–which did not have representation from a
contestant now living there–and also amped up her community work, organizing
local events, like walkathons, that reached out to potential victims of
domestic violence.
“It’s
about championing positive things that need to be spoken about,” she says.
“It’s not just about a pretty face or a pretty girl. You can use the crown
to try to come together and try to help each other because at the end of the
day we are all human. I think that is what the U.N. stands for, right?”
The United Nations Pageants
in
starts July 5 and runs through
July 8.
Categories: Releases
