MOST Magazine Fitness JUN'15 ISSUE NO.3 | Page 115

Coach, Speaker, Author, Miss California International 2014

WinAPageant.com

By Alycia Darby
he pageant industry can be a real
mystery. It seems that five elusive judges
scoured the nation and swept 50 of the
most beautiful women from their towns, threw them
in a fully-beaded designer gown and asked them
to perform talents of all sorts to see who is the
most beautiful of all. Even the winner seems
shocked – a surprising gasp, hysterical tears,
and kisses blown to the audience as though she
had never expected to win a pageant.
If you’ve ever competed in a pageant, you
know the truth. Contestants prepare for months
and sometimes years to win a pageant. Each one
studies current events, learns how to apply fake
eyelashes, tries on countless gowns, spends days
at the gym perfecting her physique and hours
teasing her hair. You know that when the curtain
goes up, the music turns on and Miss California
glides across the stage in a $700 bikini and 4-inch
heels, there are 49 other girls hopping around

in spanx with one heel on asking for a zip while
painting on new lip color, wiping off butt-glue, and
taping blisters before hitting the stage to again
glide gracefully as the audience admires her
‘effortless’ beauty. Effortless? Ha!
To be fair, on occasion you may see a pageant
winner who hears her name announced and gives
a victorious shout as she throws a fist into the air.
I happen to like those girls. They treat pageantry
more like a sport than a fantasy; the girl with the
most points wins.
Yet the point system of a pageant is not as
objective as a game of basketball. The fate of the
contestants lies in the hands of five strangers –
judges, who have the honor and responsibility of
choosing a winner. Judges have 30-90 seconds
while a contestant is on stage to judge their
perception of her. Barely long enough to recover
from a sneeze. >>>

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