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Miss England 2016 has been held in Southport
Report and photo by Patrick Trollope.
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MISS England, which is part of the Miss World competition,
is far from what many would imagine a beauty pageant to be. As many of us have
learned over the last few weeks, this classic competition offers much more that
perceived by the general public. These competitions have travelled far from
their roots and no longer follow the tarnished and rather superficial format of
old. Today the aims are supplemented by a willingness to develop better role
models, in keeping with today’ needs. It challenges the stereo typical view of a
of “The World’s Most Desirable Women.” Many of those who have won
the title of Miss England in the past have become Doctors, one, even before she
had entered, was War Hero. These girls are more than eye candy and the
competition examines their personalities, minds and physical abilities, not just
their looks. Like their counterparts in Mr England, the most desirable
candidates are not always your typical catwalk style model in looks. With
teenagers and young people having very few role models to look up to, these
girls, who achieve the crown have to act as role models. This is an extremely
hard challenge for these young ladies to undertake. Not only do they have to
battle with sexist views attached to modelling, the media attention, but also
with the very cut throat world of celebrity. Many influences on the young today
are far from being benign or desirable, so we should welcome the now more mature
approach on offer by the Miss and Mr World competitions. Far from sullying the
image of classic Southport, which is fast disappearing, this competition offers
a welcome expansion of entertainment whilst demonstrating what the world should
be about. If more competitions are run like this, instead of the increasing
number of them, like Big Brother, The Apprentice, X-Factor and similar, many of
which often play into our baser instincts, our country would be far better off.
These girls move heaven and earth to raise funds for charity, support local
events and more... In fact, events like Miss England bring in revenue to the
area without damaging its reputation in the least, and are anything but sexist.
What we have found sexist is some of the reporting of events like that of Mr
World, given that in the UK, competitions frequently have competitors doing very
similar tasks to those undertaken by Miss World contestants. Yet media coverage
frequently fails to reflect their aspirations. Also, competitions such these in
Southport and Merseyside should raise the profile of those areas
internationally, yet both locally and nationally got very little attention.
Stating this is not knocking them but emphasising that biased coverage
reinforces the stereotypical, historical views of these competitions, as do the
countless less honourable shows that spring up. But the ideas behind Miss
England and Miss World, whose tagline is 'Beauty with a Purpose'
could present opportunities for future in providing good role models, should we
take the opportunity to embrace what these girls have to offer.
Please click on
here to see our full report about
this fantastic event and part 1 of our photographic coverage of this event. |
