Last Saturday, I spent the majority of the day getting to know 14 young women about as well as one can get to know a person in an eight-hour timespan.

As a judge for a Miss Michigan Outstanding Teen dual-preliminary pageant in Edwardsburg, I joined four other judges in scoring interviews, on-stage questions, talent, active wear and evening gowns.

I’ve participated in just about every angle of the pageant process there is — from attempting to make it across the stage gracefully in heels and an evening gown to photographing for the paper to helping decide the next queen — and I can tell you from experience, none of it is easy.

Say what you will about pageants, but I’ve got to hand it to the young women with the courage and poise to strut across the stage in a swimsuit or perform a solo Irish jig in front of a crowd full of people.

I’ve heard plenty that pageants are nothing more than a popularity contest, that young girls are exploited in the process and marched around like prized pigs hoping for the highest bidder. Pageant girls are often stereotyped as flighty and unintelligent, and their parents are often criticized for encouraging them to participate.

I can tell you from loads of experience that, for the vast majority of pageant contestants, all of the above is false.

During the interview portion, I kept having to check my binder to see how old these 13- to 18-year-olds actually were. At times I felt like I was speaking with women older than myself, and at one point I humbly scribbled down a word one of the ladies said to remind myself to look it up later.

A large percentage of the participants in the age division I judged travel the state going to various pageants to compete until they earn a crown, with eyes on the prize of competing in the next level of competition: Miss Michigan’s Outstanding Teen.

One of the ladies crowned enlists friends to perform flash mobs at public events to draw awareness to the dangers of smoking. A dyslexic young woman who competed visits schools all over her area to present about the disease and how educators can better teach students with dyslexia. She even spent some time with the state senate lobbying for legislation that would require screening for students exhibiting signs of the disease.

I watched twirlers juggle three batons at a time, an opera singer belt out a show tune from “Chicago” and several dancers prance across the stage. One contestant even played the marimba.

People often say that judging women for their looks is wrong — and I wholeheartedly agree, but the structure of the Miss America pageant and how the judges are directed to analyze contestants to find dynamic, articulate, talented and healthy women to serve as role models for younger generations.

My point is — at least from my perspective — the majority of pageant contestants are anything but flighty and unintelligent. The ladies I worked with Saturday were eloquent, poised, mature and extremely bright.

I left the pageant Saturday feeling refreshed, excited to see what the future holds for these strong young women. Rather than viewing the event as a so-called popularity contest, I was even more convinced of the potential pageants have to not only showcase the great things these young women are already doing, but to empower them to take their passions to the next level.

 

Ambrosia Neldon is the managing editor at Leader Publications. She can be reached by phone at (269) 687-7713, or by email at ambrosia.neldon@leaderpub.com.