Khia Cimoné Moon, from Portsmouth, Virginia was crowned in Richmond, Virginia April 1, 2012 a beauty queen. That came about four decades after the end of the racial terror of the Southern white genteel societies, and a breath after the beginning of the era of a technological innovation that changed relationships between people. In the 1970's some envisioned an end to beauty contests, but they persist insisting on relevance against the outcry of women activists, who insist it (the practice) is archaic and outside the modern definition of the New Woman. But, is it? Is beauty meant to be glossed over, or an intellectual acknowledgment of identity or physicality?
Today much more is expected to come out of the mouths of beauty contestants since the Women's Movement. Intelligence is expected to be flanked by accomplishment and intentions beyond the pale of personal gain. Women beauty contestants need to be poised to evolve with a level of sophistication eventually making them interesting enough to engage the elite of the media jungle and inform young girls about the how of reaching goals and manifesting dreams. It is a delicate balance between being beautiful and taken seriously in an industry and culture that judges women by standards men are not submissive to, or sacrificed for. Beauty pageants ask questions to one's existence. Do they define the New Woman? Who is the New Woman?
In the 1970's the estimation of womanhood was narrowly defined by white women. They will deny it, but actions speak louder than words. The '70's were fresh with newness, and the dependence Black women had on the ideals and idea of womanhood were mirrors of white women's woes and standards. Is the early 21st century different? Have we evolved from that? I submit no as I gaze across the country and beyond to other countries across the globe. White women under play their influence and power and out of the corners of their eye they see the multitudes taking their cues and phobias to heart. Bleached skin in Africa and throughout Asia, Iranian women sculpturing their noses into white woman's notion of perfection as if Napoleon's reaction to the sight of the pyramids is insignificant, and not a commandment as powerful as the commandments Moses carried down from the mountain!
With that in mind what are beauty pageants for, who do they honor, what is the deepest objective of them and whose identity is expressed as the ideal? In other words, are we white people who look like the ancestors of other cultures?
In the 1970's the estimation of womanhood was narrowly defined by white women. They will deny it, but actions speak louder than words. The '70's were fresh with newness, and the dependence Black women had on the ideals and idea of womanhood were mirrors of white women's woes and standards. Is the early 21st century different? Have we evolved from that? I submit no as I gaze across the country and beyond to other countries across the globe. White women under play their influence and power and out of the corners of their eye they see the multitudes taking their cues and phobias to heart. Bleached skin in Africa and throughout Asia, Iranian women sculpturing their noses into white woman's notion of perfection as if Napoleon's reaction to the sight of the pyramids is insignificant, and not a commandment as powerful as the commandments Moses carried down from the mountain!
With that in mind what are beauty pageants for, who do they honor, what is the deepest objective of them and whose identity is expressed as the ideal? In other words, are we white people who look like the ancestors of other cultures?
Gregory E. Woods
Keeper of Stories
5/8/15
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Khia Cimoné Moon working out !!!!
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