It is highly doubtful that many readers of this article are aware that the global beauty pageant - Miss Universe, if you will - still exists in 2021. The Miss World pageant has fascinated tens of millions around the world over the years, shifting pride to small countries like Israel that have seen national pride victories over the years (hi Rina Moore and Linor Abergil), and detailing sympathy for the small country surrounded by enemies.
But in recent years it has become almost self-evident to assume that the era of Instush, MeToo and reality has finally eliminated what is left of the beauty model offered by the old competition.
Well, it turns out it was a mistake, because this product, outdated and anachronistic as it may be, still manages to captivate tens of millions around the world.
Next month, the city of Eilat will host the global "Miss Universe" competition.
The competition, which will be broadcast live on December 12 in more than 170 countries and to about 600 million viewers around the world, will still do Israel good PR in the Corona era, mainly because it has not yet been decided whether it is open to tourists or not.
No less than 5,000 people are expected in the port of Eilat, 100 of them journalists from around the world.
Since the competition was founded, somewhere in 1951, the world has changed many times, but there are still things that do not change: India and Venezuela top the podium with the number of winners, and Britain, which hosted most of these competitions throughout the 1980s, holds a large number of winners , While the Americans are behind, along with the countries of Central America.
This product, which in the early 2000s seemed to become irrelevant, even in the face of the multiplicity of versions of the formula (did you know that there is competition in Israel for the beauty queens of Holocaust survivors?) - is being renewed, having adapted itself to the spirit of the time and place.
Does not read talkbacks
This week I met the current queen, 27-year-old Mexican Mesa, who will be parting ways with the crown and the iconic film for the benefit of the next winner.
Wandering with an essay around Tel Aviv is a rather amusing task, probably when she suddenly pulls out of her bag her private movie "MISS UNIVERSE", which instantly makes her a superheroine that everyone runs to hug, making her wonder if the Mexicans are a hot people, or These are the Israelis, who hold her waist without a problem, and hurry to ask for a selfie.
As the conversation with essay lengthens one can clearly understand to whom these competitions are still intended around the world, and why they are still a large-scale economic engine. Mesa, who has a degree in engineering, comes from northern Mexico, from the city of Chihuahua City. In Mexico and South America in general, this competition is "equivalent to the World Cup or the interest you have in politics. Everyone watches it and everyone sees this competition as a subject of national pride.
" "There is no doubt that a local beauty queen gets more reactions from a local parliamentarian," she says with a smile.
An essay does not hide the fact that winning the title of beauty queen is an organized project that requires careful mental preparation. She started competing in beauty pageants when she was young, and in college where she completed her degree in engineering she lost for the first time: "Whoever won became a doctor, and I eventually became Miss Universe. I'm not sure she's sorry but neither am I, given the life I have won Following the win. "
Essay went on to the Miss Universe pageant in 2017 and finished there as runner-up after winning the Miss Mexico title, and also became a favorite in the international pageant. Her family convinced her it was close and the next time she went to face her she would win - and so it was.
"It was clear I had to move to Mexico City if I wanted to turn this thing into a career," she suddenly gets serious as we sit down to snack on a salad at a local coffee shop. "It's 1,500 miles from home and I was a young woman, almost a girl when I went on this adventure. Did I have any concerns about the stories I heard about this world? Certainly. But in the end I concentrated on the task and what I needed to do: "
What did not happen to Essa on her way to the coveted title: The local press insisted she was married and therefore not allowed to enter the competition according to the rules, although she strongly claims that it all started with her pictures in the catalog intended for brides being misinterpreted.
Then came the usual talkbacks about her beauty, her height and the length of her nails.
Mass was hurt to the depths of her soul: "At first I still made the beginner's mistake and read all the talkbacks about me and it was just awful. It hurt me and changed my mood, it really penetrated me. People can say it does not move them, but for me it brought down "The confidence, both because I did not understand why people write like that, and also because the amounts of reactions were large. At a certain point I decided to stop with it because it really did me no good."
Joshua Joseph,
A business that needs to be maintained
A conscious essay for the impossible cultural representations that beauty pageants perpetuate. In an age of culture of cancellation, vulgar and divisive discourse - or if you will: the audience that once hoped that Miss Universe would bring peace - has become one that responds on social media: "It won? It is not so beautiful at all, Netanya is a hundred times more beautiful than it."
"I think people out there do not understand that the beauty pageant has completely changed from years past," she says as we begin to walk around the Dizengoff Square area. "It used to be clear maybe what dimensions one looks for in these ceremonies, and I think only outsiders still have the thought that this is the case. Today the concepts of height, weight, face - everything has changed, and stereotypes no longer exist. This is not an industry you feel insecure about. And really before I started my career I came up with a lot of concerns also because of things I heard.These things have changed beyond recognition, today you can not decide for someone else that it is the right beauty model and therefore deserves to win the beauty pageant. That was in the past. "
When I ask her if the beauty queens are still trying to bring peace to the world she twists her face. "I do not think anyone believes or has ever believed that beauty queens can bring peace to the world. If presidents of countries fail to do it alone, then surely one beauty queen will not do it. But I can definitely say that this role does affect people and I "Yes, I manage to change things in my world, and that's thanks to being a beauty queen. There's no point in denying it, it's something I wanted, it was not forced on me."
In the coming month, an essay will travel across the United States before returning to Eilat for the ceremony. Here she measures a shirt in a "female spirit" intended for donation for battered women, where she gets on a hot air balloon over Tel Aviv. The change of clothes is done quickly in the luxury van that takes her from place to place, the makeup is quickly removed and everything is sweet, 2.5 million followers on social networks - this is a business that needs to be maintained, certainly and certainly when the title of beauty queen is immediately taken from her.
The myth of the battle of the cats
Beyond the familiar geopinesy route of a meeting with the current beauty queen of Israel (how many of you really knew that this was Noa Kochba, 22 years old from Atarot?) You can actually see the size of this industry, even in a small country like ours.
True, this competition has never been seen in Israel as an opening for a new and more glamorous life, as they may wink at South American or Asian contestants from countries like the Philippines, but yes, it is still a dream of many girls around the world.
"Look, obviously everyone who competes in this competition comes to win. But when I heard stories about quarrels between the contestants and a desire to trip each other up, I expected the worst," she says dramatically.
"When I did not win for the first time I was very proud of the winner. I can testify that my experience of all this was positive. I saw contestants who forgot things and their contestants helped them and brought them what was missing, even though it was a contest and they could be hurt by it. , She is reassuring.
Essay after the announcement of the win, 2020 // Photo: GettyImages,
During her stay here it was finally clarified, not that there was anyone who thought otherwise, that this was one of the most demanding works in Show Business. Mesa, a captivating girl who walked into her agent Esther's room in New York and said one sentence: "I came to work hard and I'm willing to do what's necessary .
"I'll tell you the truth, when you ask me what it's like to be the most beautiful woman in the world, I must say I do not think I am like that. Although I won the 'Miss Universe' contest, I never looked at myself as 'the most beautiful woman in the world' and this "Not my perception. I think in the end it's a lot of determination and hard work, and really understanding that this is something you really want. Otherwise no matter how beautiful you are, it will be very difficult for you to win this title."
And with that important tip, I came home to fall asleep on the couch in front of the "Singer in the Mask."