When I saw an article calling Bianca Guidotti’s non-placement in the Miss International 2014 beauty pageant a ‘stunning’ loss, I shook my head and thought, what a mean title… Why use the word stunning? And gosh naman, its like stabbing yourself with a kitchen knife when you kick a kababayan who is down.
Oh well, that’s the press for you. They join you when you win then ditch you when you lose. But that’s not really a complaint from me ; its an acceptance of what just is.
But then it dawned upon me that the Philippines has truly become a pageant powerhouse that our non-inclusion would be called a ‘stunning’ loss. That thought somewhat cheered me up.
Now, Bianca’s much-pilloried gown has become the explanation for her ‘stunning’ loss even if Miss International has always been less about the wardrobe and more about the woman who wears it. This is not Miss Universe.
Then Bianca’s handler, Jonas Gaffud, bless his heart, has taken the blame for her loss. But I am not buying it. It’s not his fault. It really isn’t anybody’s fault. Not Bianca’s fault either. And though her gown was indeed unremarkable, I don’t think that piece of cloth blinded the judges. At least not in this case.
Pageants should not be about fault-finding (although I am sometimes guilty of this). Pageants should be about celebrating as a nation when we win and crying together when we ‘lose’. Pageants should be about beauty inside and out. Pageants should inspire us!
The true loss to me are when fingers start pointing and when we can’t graciously accept results. It’s okay to feel bad and cry and maybe even mourn; and mourn is what I did when Bianca wasn’t called to the Top 10. But to play the blame game? Now THAT is the true stunning loss…
