BEAUTY QUEENS - A FRANK OPINION BY MR. OGBONNAYA NWOTA

 
They are usually elegant, tall, slender and beautiful. They wear an insignia of the crown. They are called Queens. Beauty Queens. Time was when they were few, exquisitely classic with a powerful mix of brains and beauty; that time is no more. Time was when they were rarely seen in the offices and/or private homes, soliciting for handouts in the name of pet projects; that time no one can recall. Time was when these Queens walk with panache with an aura of distinction and in a class of superlatives; that time is history. Time was when native intelligence, social brilliance and a combination of nature and nurtured unflawed physique and unflappable personality were basic criteria for Beauty Queenship; that time is superannuated. Unfortunately, contemporary Beauty Pageant is a contrast of the old order. Yes, they are still beautiful. Unarguably, they are still tall. Indeed, the contest is no longer confined only to slender girls, there are also beauty parades for the fat, sorry, ‘bold’ ones; but in all, I doubt whether they still have enough ‘brains’ to complement and match their beauty, whether slender or bold.

Many things about the contest have gone awry. The fragmentation and balkanization of Beauty Pageantry is tsunamic to the industry and has contributed immensely to the bastardization of the once coveted contest, as different business-minded guys in conjunction with some beautiful damsels simply evolve a contest with a name hitherto unknown to the industry's lexicon and thereby, ascribe prizes to these girls depending on their levels of 'compliance and offertory'. This in their analysis to these young susceptible minds automatically imbues `Queenship’ in them and consequently legitimizes them on a daily basis to wear the insignias of a crown on their heads and sash worn diagonally with an inscription of their awards, and aimless perambulate from one ‘big’ office to another in the name of seeking for sponsorship for their pet projects and courtesy visits. What a calculated and self-inflicted exposure to moral danger! The truth is that most of these modern Queens of the ‘fragmented order’ are usually exposed to amoral crucibles in the name of ‘camping and audition’ where they willfully predispose themselves to all forms of concupiscent lobbying to outwit, outmaneuver and outshine each other. These expected ‘crumbs’ from the contestants are joyously ‘taken’ and ‘eaten’ for gratis by the organizers/chaperone with a promise of the ‘prize’ to these young girls. Inasmuch as there are still elements of decorum in the conduct of some beauty pageants of today, but they abound, many indecorous, indecent, and perhaps pedophilic issues and sexual exploitation inherent in the processes and proceedings of a modern beauty Queenship if closely scrutinized. Some of these young girls involved in Beauty Pageants are mostly innocent, undefiled as at the time of their recruitment, but cunningly procured by a business syndicate, who capitalize on their naivete and dangle many fantasies as their would-be prizes, whereas they are actually defiled, sexually exploited and radicalized, and consequently exposed to the corporate begging and 'cooperate giving'; and indeed other forms of exploitation where morality takes a back seat.

Mr. Ogbonnaya Nwota, A Social Commentator and Security Expert