{"id":244165,"date":"2025-11-06T14:35:36","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T09:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=244165"},"modified":"2025-11-14T22:10:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T16:40:09","slug":"the-ugly-side-to-beauty-pageants-verbal-aggression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-ugly-side-to-beauty-pageants-verbal-aggression\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ugly Side To Beauty Pageants & Verbal Aggression"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ashanthi Ekanayake<\/a> –<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Ashanthi Ekanayake<\/p><\/div>\n

As a very young child I remember being allowed to stay up unusually late to watch Rosie Senanayake<\/a><\/span> being crowned. Later I watched Otara Chandiram<\/a><\/span> 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 \u201cvapid and vacuous\u201d 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\u2019s antics. Watching Freddie Mercury I never felt any homophobic qualms. Even listening to the lyrics of certain songs by bands like The Gypsies<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

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 F\u00e1tima Bosch the contestant from Mexico publicly in front of cameras broadcasting worldwide. Mr. Nawat was heard succinctly using the words \u201cdumb,\u201d \u201ckicked out of the country,\u201d and \u201cwife.\u201d When Bosch says \u201cvoice\u201d he says \u201cwife.\u201d 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 \u201cI am a rich man.\u201d Oopsie, sounded like a certain trumpet.<\/p>\n