"Mean Girl" Miss USA Called "Racist"
No one's surprised that beauty pageants are still terrible.
Miss USA 2018 Sarah Rose Summers wearing dress by Leanne Marshall
This year's Miss USA is being called the "ambassador of bullying," a real-life Regina George, and a plain "racist."
Days before the Miss Universe pageant is set to commence in Thailand, a live Instagram video has shown Sarah Rose Summers mocking two Asian contestants, Miss Cambodia Rern Sinat and Miss Vietnam H'Hen Nie, for their lack of English fluency.
In the video, Summers, 24, was flanked by Miss Colombia Valeria Morales and Miss Australia Francesca Hung. Summers incurred the internet's ire when she answered a follower's question, "What do you think about Miss Vietnam?"
"She pretends to know so much English, and then you ask her a question after having a whole conversation with her and she goes—" at which point Summers gave a blank smile and nod. She added, grinning, "She's adorable."
Later in the video, she interjected a second damning comment: "Miss Cambodia is here and doesn't speak any English and not a single other person speaks her language. Can you imagine? Francesca said, 'That would be so isolating,' and I said, 'Yes, and just confusing all the time.'" She added, "Poor Cambodia."
Immediate online backlash condemned Summers' comments but expressed a defeated lack of surprise to hear such tone-deaf remarks and "normalized xenophobia" from an American. After all, the entire Miss USA pageant is an outdated, for-profit, formerly Trump-owned organization that is "increasingly culturally irrelevant."
The Miss Universe Organization, which operates both of the equally pointless Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, has recently rebranded itself as "a company run by women for women, built on a foundation of inclusion [that] continues to be a celebration of diversity." One Instagram account, Diet Prada, popular for calling out hypocrisy and disingenuousness in fashion culture, derided the title of Miss Universe and the current Miss USA, posting, "[Summers] hopefully will prove that ignorance will not win you a @missuniverse title...whatever that means these days."
The post continues, "If she's trying to show empathy, the condescending, intolerant tone tells a different story. A reminder that you're participating in a competition in a country/continent where English is NOT the primary language."
In response, Summers quickly posted an obligatory apology on Instagram, writing, "In a moment where I intended to admire the courage of a few of my sisters, I said something that I now realize can be perceived as not respectful, and I apologize. I am grateful for opportunities to speak with Nat, Miss Cambodia, and H'Hen, Miss Vietnam, directly about this experience. These are the moments that matter most to me." What these "moments" actually mean to her is left unstated. Perhaps she means a second chance to perfect her tone before the Q&A portion of the pageant.
While the winner of the Miss Universe pageant receives significant financial gain over the course of a year, including a six-figure salary, sponsorships, and room and board in a New York City "luxury apartment" (with living expenses included), a beauty pageant's purported contributions to society are either invisible or laughably patronizing.
And it's not as if the ratings are faring well. Last year's viewership of both the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants were among all-time lows. At best, this could be a sign that today's social climate is edging out overt celebrations of patriarchy. At worst, the remaining 2.9 million viewers are holding firm to the original 1950s legacy that condoned swimsuit competitions in exchange for scholarships, corporatized femininity, and lifted Trump to power.
This year's Miss Universe pageant will take place on December 16 in Thailand. Luckily for Summers, the event will be in English.
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