Bashing in the world of pageantry is a nasty but largely tolerated mischief. It’s part of the fun and it is up to you how you take it.
There are boundaries of course. When the bashing becomes racist or it can already be considered as a form of cyber bullying, the line must be clearly delineated. But then, how do we draw the line between the freedom of speech and cyber bullying?
Being a contestant of a Big5 Pageant means you are a celebrity. As such, you are supposed to tolerate all the criticism be it for you or against you. As a celebrity, it shouldn’t bother you. After all, a star is way higher than anything else.
But we’ve come to a dilemma. Pageant fanaticism and nationalism came to the point where a much-bashed delegate must be protected at all times. Sure, when a germ enters the body, the white blood cells attack it. It is understandable if one will defend his or her delegate when she is being attacked. But things came to a point where a valid commentary or legit observation is instantly perceived as an attack. Where a slightest observation that does not agree with their standpoint is already considered as bashing. When a harmless Hot Picks is tagged as racist – never realizing that the previous editions of Hot Picks has all the elements of diversity.
Lupus is a disease where your white blood cells simply attack everything. When you give your honest observation without any traces of ill-will you get a fighter white blood cell calling you racist, a troll or a basher. Oh, how we missed the ’90s when the Internet already exists yet there were no comment boxes and Facebook and Twitter. Where real and honest commentaries are the plat de jour.
Surely, any broadminded person reading this now would understand that it is extremely difficult to police the Facebook pages, groups and forums. It is also difficult to ascertain what must be protected under the auspices of freedom of speech. But you can see them there. The lupus of the pageantry world – en garde and really to attack you at your slightest move. Missosology.Org
