By Ashanthi Ekanayake –

Ashanthi Ekanayake

As a very young child I remember being allowed to stay up unusually late to watch Rosie Senanayake being crowned. Later I watched Otara Chandiram and others in Sri Lanka and even Indian beauties like Sushmita Sen and Rai taking part in beauty pageants. I have never felt indignation at the celebration of beauty as something that is demeaning to our sex. I take mild offence at some of the “vapid and vacuous” question posed at the end which are the truly misogynistic aspect of the pageants. I never really felt like I had to conform to any body type as a result of my avid/morbid interest and never felt threated by negative values being celebrated. We as a generation grew up to appreciate beauty in any form, color or size. Pouring over magazines that my mother brought home I feasted my eyes on the faces of Naomi Campbell and others. The pop culture icons available to me were a good representative mix. I love Tina Turner and was in awe of Madonna’s antics. Watching Freddie Mercury I never felt any homophobic qualms. Even listening to the lyrics of certain songs by bands like The Gypsies I never felt they truly channeled an abhorrent level of misogyny. I have happily remained mostly appreciative of any form of art that celebrates life and beauty.

Sadly, and frustratingly, celebration of beauty has become a business of the sort that causes ugly scenes and brutal attacks which are now common in many other spheres. Nawat Itsaragrisil, a plutocrat and a rich business tycoon, was seen brutally castigating Fátima Bosch the contestant from Mexico publicly in front of cameras broadcasting worldwide. Mr. Nawat was heard succinctly using the words “dumb,” “kicked out of the country,” and “wife.” When Bosch says “voice” he says “wife.” That is the most interesting turns in the conversation. Is he implying that if Bosch was his wife she would have no voice? A threat Sri Lankan men bandy about as was seen in social media this past week as related to a widely circulated video of a traffic offence. Nawat also says “I am a rich man.” Oopsie, sounded like a certain trumpet.

Due to technology and easy access to information we hear of the event as it happens and when it happens. The whole world thus saw masculine brutality at its finest. The Mexican contestant was heard to say “I have a voice.” At which point the security is called in, presumably to escort her out. It appears that according to the organizers and specifically Mr. Nawat, Miss Mexico has not promoted Thailand adequately and has not complied with the host country’s and organizers requests. Nawat’s garbled speech indicates that he is angry that the current Miss Mexico has not posted enough on social media and that she has declined an invitation to dine with Victoria.

It is well known that at these beauty pageants the beauties are supposed to entertain those who contribute financially. This is no longer a whispered fact. When some refuse, the rich patrons are heard to grumble. At the risk of being a “native informant” and racist to boot, it is an accepted fact that there have been numerous allegations of this sort of “harassment” and “manhandling” within the global pageant industry and specifically in the Asian region.

In May 2025, Miss England, Milla Magee, quit the Miss World pageant held in India before the finals, claiming she felt exploited and was made to feel like a “prostitute”. She alleged that she and other contestants were forced to wear formal gowns all day and attend dinners to entertain older businessmen and sponsors as a “thank you” for their investment.

To get back to the current controversy, as Miss Mexico is presumably being escorted out, the footage is not shown, the beauties stand up as a group to protest yet one among them is heard to say “you have been wonderful hosts etc.” in atone. Nawat then turns to admonish the beauties saying if they want the pageant to continue, they must sit down. A while after Miss Mexico leaves the room, a group of sashed women leaves en masse.

What is troubling is not that something ugly transpired at a beauty contest, there is a deeper and far rooted evil that is manifesting here. This is a clear instance that it is a given that if and when motivated by anger, men in power can speak to women in this manner and get away with it. Many men in powerful positions believe that they can take any tone and speak in any manner to those who are below them in rank or even those who are equal to them unless they ingratiate themselves. (I am aware that I am at risk of sounding sexist, but in the Asian context it is almost always men who are the aggressors.) If like Fatima Bosche the oppressed speaks back to the oppressor, one is silenced and ousted. As Nawat speaks one of the women who is flanking him contributes to his side of the conversation and is supportive of what is being said by him. Thus, it is not about “patriarchy” but rather about unhealthy power dynamics and a lack of basic decency and the unseemly inability to contain one’s anger. Some are able to openly humiliate a person by tone of voice or choice of words. Even in very efficient legal frameworks there’s nothing that will prevent verbal aggression.

If the incident under discussion is an indication, think of what transpires behind the closed doors of our stalwart institutions. Imagine the extent of the hidden institutional and institutionalized structural violence that is justified in the name of following rules and regulations. What regulation prevents one from being subject to verbal abuse and humiliation? This is not simply sexism, classism, racism or even double standards. It is the impunity with which a person can speak with violence. The psychological and even physiological harm it leads to is given little notice. This can be a teacher speaking harshly to a young child or a doctor yelling at a patient or even a person high in the hierarchy yelling at a person of a lower rank. At one time we saw presidents speaking dismissively and disrespectfully to officials in public. These acts were accepted as normal and were seen as an exercise of a given right. Such an act is usually dismissed as normal and even acceptable. Mass media should not valorize such acts regardless of which political party they ascribe to. However, with this very public incident women and anyone else who feels wronged should have the ability to protest and walk out of such situations and the aggressor should not get away with impunity.

Quite rightly Fatima Bosch Fernandez protested and walked out, as dignified and honorable treatment and respect is every individual’s basic right no matter what age, race, class or sex.