Some things to clear before we continue this story: (a) beauty is subjective, (b) good looks are just looks, what really matters is the splendor underneath, and (c) pageants are — more often than not — a mode of corporate exploitation (leaning on demeaning sexism) and may perpetuate warped images of ‘ideal’ womanhood.
With that being said, we’ll just leave this here because it has gone absolutely viral across social media. Miss Singapore Beauty Pageant (not to be confused with the actual Miss Singapore Universe) recently held a talent and fashion show with its 2017 finalists at Tanjong Katong’s ONE KM mall, which nobody gave a damn about. What people did care about, however, is this picture of the finalists.
Here comes the internet commentary.
Vicious, aren’t they? Amongst the mockery and shaming of the contestants, perhaps the real ugliness lies in the hearts of those who thought nothing about causing distress to the ladies. “Honestly, it was very upsetting, especially for all of the girls,” said a finalist to The Straits Times. “But at the end of the day, we can’t stop people from saying or posting certain things.”
Editor’s note: The story has been edited to replace an embedded Facebook post, which was taken down.
