MISS SA GOING DOWN THE DRINK?

Back in the 50's and 60's, beauty pageants were all the rage. After all, there really was little else for women to do in society other than cook, clean and breed. If you wanted more, you became a secretary or a clerk.

You became a mannequin (that's what they were called back then), an actress or you entered pageants to become famous or be somebody. Pageants guaranteed unprecedented success and wealth for winners and runners-up alike.

Then in the 70's, along came the dreaded "women's libbers". Personally I applauded the concept of women freeing themselves from the constraints imposed upon them by society, but I just didn't think much of the stereotype that were the "poster girls" for the movement.

Generally they were the ugly, overweight, hairy, loud-mouthed types who felt marginalised by beautiful women and the "unfair" advantage that they enjoyed in every facet of life and business. After all, being beautiful was not a skill.

The ugly "bra-burners" infiltrated every facet of business, particularly the media. No better place to promote and promulgate your ideas and ideals than in the media. They succeeded in having pageants branded as politically incorrect.

In Europe, pageants were very popular in the 50's and 60's, and apart from the USA, the rest of the world lagged behind as a result of cultural and economic constraints. The rise of Women's Lib was the beginning of the end of pageants in Europe, which possibly explains the pitiful performance of European contestants at international pageants such as Miss Universe.

In the 80's and 90's, beauty pageants became the domain of developing nations. Unlike the European nations which had their own royalty, the developing nations did not, which possibly explains why national pageant winners enjoy hero-worship status and are treated like royalty.

I am now going to contradict an earlier statement. Because of limited media coverage, there is the perception that pageants are less popular in Europe than they were in the 60's and 70's. They are not. There are more pageants in Europe now than there ever were before.

The problem with European pageants and contestants is that they do not enjoy the same backing and support that their counterparts in other parts of the world do. That explains the domination of countries such as Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Mexico at international events. They have turned pageants into an art.

In any event, the situation in South Africa has always been that pageants are very popular, with women and men alike. Whilst the local media has followed the international media philosophy that pageant are inane, banal and politically incorrect, just as in the rest of the world, there are more pageants in SA than there ever were before.

Unfortunately, this perception of sustained or increased interest in pageants is not reflected in the interest in the national beauty pageant, Miss South Africa. That explains the rock-bottom situation in which the pageant finds itself this year. A rumour, that has subsequently been confirmed, indicates that fewer than a hundred entries have been received for the pageant this year.

I remember the days when a hundred entries constituted the number of semi-finalists that were short-listed from the thousands of entries that were received. Given the popularity of pageants in general in South Africa, I really am unable to pin-point the reason for the decline in interest in the Miss SA pageant.

I can only ascribe it to one or more of the following reasons:

* Like most cultural organisations in South Africa, the pageant has become a political pawn and the perception is that racial profiling takes place before each edition of the pageant;

* Girls who are active on the pageant circuit would rather rake in a string of smaller prizes on the local pageant circuit and not be tied down by a ridiculous year-long contract;

* Since there are no contractual obligations attached to winning a local pageant, winners can still dabble in the lucrative modelling market;

* The national pageant organisers would rather crown an above average winner (who is going to make the Top 10 at an international pageant at best) that is a finished product than invest time and money developing an unpolished contestant that could actually win a leading international pageant;

* The head judge is more interested in awarding the title to her "mates" than making an effort to find that uncut diamond.

Whatever the reason/s for the decline in interest, the Miss SA pageant is definitely going down the drink.