Sunday Specials: When becoming a Beauty Queen goes beyond skin-deep

There has never been a better time for pageant charity to fluorish than 2013-2014. With Miss World as the undisputed global leader in fund-raising for all of its Beauty With A Purpose projects in different countries, Miss Universe has also teamed up with Cordaid Fund and kept Gabriela Isler busy with other worthwhile endeavors as the reigning winner. If there’s one cause both pageants need to be united in, it is in using their platforms to be of service to those in need.
And in this day and age when international beauty pageants have sprouted like wild mushrooms in just about every shape and size, it has become a must for every organizer to add more substance to the competition, and not just focus on profits from sponsors, beauty merits, flashy national costumes and whistle-bait figures. It’s like successfully selling an expensive gadget to an individual and adding an effective post-sales service element. The usefulness of a winner needs to be maximized by putting up genuine humanitarian projects for the underprivileged sectors of the world. While Miss Earth has already found its environmental niche (and only needs to further strengthen its worldwide reach by decentralizing the ecological advocacies), Miss International has yet to find its voice in the woods of humanity. Love and peace in every culture is so broad a mission to even crystallize any significantly tangible output.

Perhaps, I can take the liberty of assigning important causes to each major beauty competition to heighten the level by which their respective power and platforms are utilized by the great many.

Miss International can start with initiating drives to help eradicate global hunger.

Miss Supranational can come up with causes that would help in youth development and the rehabilitation of misguided young ones.

Miss Intercontinental can concentrate on the protection of the rights of women and children.

And instead of espousing anti-war ideals that some individuals are not convinced of, Miss Grand International could help raise funds that can be used in clinical research for deadly diseases and patient services.

So who else has better ideas to add? Now is your chance to speak up. :-)