Talent, bathing suits, evening gowns and … College Park?
For over 80 years, the Miss America pageant has been an American tradition despite stereotypes about the latent misogyny of the competition and the standards it placed on women and beauty. But in the Miss College Park competition, a yearly event that was held Saturday at nearby Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, contestants strove to battle what they said were misconceptions in their quest for the crown.
College students majoring in areas as varied as government and politics and bioengineering and from this university and others flexed their feminine wiles and brainpower before a panel of six judges during the event. But the glitz and the glamour of the competition – which included shimmering, glittering evening dresses, skimpy two-piece bathing suits and an impressive talent section, including singing and dancing – wasn’t the only reason students chose to compete, they said.
“The crown is like a megaphone; it gives you a [chance] to be able to talk about what’s important to you,” said the pageant’s winner, Heather Molnar. Molnar, a senior English major at University of Maryland Eastern Shore who has a 3.79 GPA and has aspirations to be a lobbyist on Capitol Hill for women who are victims of domestic violence, has been competing in pageants since she was 8 years old, won Miss Teen Maryland in 2001 and will be competing for Miss Maryland for the fifth time this June.
Despite her years of experience, Molnar understands the stereotypes working against her, she said.
“I think there is a general misconception that pageant girls are just physically beautiful but in fact they’re intelligent, compassionate and driven,” Molnar added.
And the contestants on display Saturday night seemed to break the typical pageant-girl mold. Six judges scribbled notes on their clipboards as a variety of diverse girls made their bid for the crown, such as university students Jessica Bermudez and Lucia Qian, who both performed piano solos during the talent portion of the competition. Just as impressive were Isha Misra and freshman biology major Pratibha Chander, who performed an array of Indian cultural dances while clad in bright, traditional costumes and golden bangles.
But it was difficult for those who thought outside of the box to make much progress among the final five. Chander, for example, wore a spunky evening gown that mixed zebra and peacock prints and danced near flawlessly, but she didn’t even make it into the top five.
And the competition wasn’t just fun and games, contestants said. The night before the pageant, each contestant was subject to a lengthy, private interview with the six judges, who asked them a number of tough questions such as, “If you were a principal at a conservative private high school, would you hire an openly gay teacher?” Bermudez said. Each contestant also had to supplement her application with an essay about her platform issue, which explained which aspect of society she was adamant about improving – a part of the contest that Molnar won.
Not everyone’s dreams were shattered that night, though. The panel strayed from the beauty queen norm with Taryn Williams, its choice for Miss Capitol Region, a title equivalent to third place in the Miss College Park competition. Williams, who is only a senior at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt was discovered by the pageant’s assistant director, Randy Howes, at her audition for The Washington Post’s music and dance scholarship competition. Howes then encouraged Williams to participate in the event, and she wowed the audience with a dance to music from The Lion King. The performance included a headstand and numerous ballet stunts, and along with a bejeweled tiara, Williams also won scholarship money, a prize that excited her mother.
“I’m probably as speechless as she is right now,” Williams’s mother said. “All I can think of is scholarship money, scholarship money, scholarship money!”
Overall, however, the diversity of contestants at this year’s competition helped battle any stereotypes that may exist about the pageant world, Shana Powell, last year’s Miss Maryland said.
“The challenge that I see when there are so many beautiful women [competing],” Powell said, “is [keeping] a reality check as far as what their real, unique gifts are.”
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