It's a quarrel!
Recently, a Chinese New Zealander planned an event that caused some controversy.
A Chinese immigrant from New Zealand orchestrated a children's beauty contest.
But local writers have slammed her, saying her approach is "outdated."
Discovery Jun contacted her for an interview, let's take a look at the ins and outs of this matter.
01
The Chinese hold a children's beauty contest
Local Writer Says 'Outdated'
This is a children's beauty contest for children, divided into three categories, with entry fees ranging from $200 to $400.
Winners will receive a prize of NZ$100-500 and a certificate of honor.
Children under the age of 16 can sign up, and now that the contest has ended, the winners are in Turkey for the final of the Miss World competition.
Local media outlet Stuff spoke to author Angela Barnett about children's pageants, who is personally opposed to children's pageants.
Because "it will tell young women that their appearance is the most important thing to them." This doesn't actually boost confidence, it weakens it. ”
Barnett said the idea that beauty pageants are a window to confidence is "old old model thinking."
She said she would rather see girls encouraged to participate in leadership programs or sports.
"Or, if it's like a speech pageant, it's all about building the confidence to speak up, to speak up." "You can wear cargo pants or you can wear a spacesuit," she said. ”
Because, in some children's beauty pageants, some contestants will deliberately dress up maturely, copy the rules and aesthetics of adults to children, and "sexualize" girls.
There are indeed a lot of exaggerated behaviors in traditional children's beauty contests, such as putting on dentures called "flipper" to make children who have lost teeth laugh more "perfectly".
In some news reports, people will see criticism of children's beauty pageants, and some regions will also oppose the holding of children's beauty pageants.
And the organizer of this game is none other than Kogi So, a Chinese mother.
In this regard, Discovery-kun contacted her and asked her to respond and express her opinion.
At one o'clock in the morning Turkish time, she had just finished a busy day of work and was interviewed by Discovery Jun.
Kogi felt that "it is too narrow" to look at the New Zealand writer's statement.
She herself knows that "a lot of people think that beauty pageants are only based on appearance, so they will think it's not good, and what I'm doing is to change this stereotype and provide a new way for everyone." ”
She reviewed the whole process of the event and took us to a deeper understanding of the significance of the event.
The first is the original intention of holding this event.
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New Zealand is not a big world
Give your child a "cultural exchange trip"
Kogi has a lot of labels: Chinese, mom of two girls, working woman.
She signed up for a beauty contest and got results, in the process she met many outstanding women in different industries, and also showed the world the style of Chinese women.
"Beauty pageants can have a positive effect." She said.
She knew it firsthand. When she saw that New Zealand had never held a children's beauty pageant, she decided to be "the first to eat crabs" with two daughters.
She hopes to provide a stage for New Zealand girls to express themselves, and hopes that this stage can take them out and see the wider world.
Of course, let the world see them.
This trip to Turkey to participate in a world-class competition is more of a cultural exchange event than an event.
Kogi took five New Zealand families with him to Turkey.
She said that both the children and the parents enjoyed the journey, making friends from all over the world and showcasing New Zealand culture in many ways.
Then there are the beauty pageant rules set by Kogi.
On the recruitment website, she directly noted that "dentures and other behaviors that make children look more mature are not welcome" and that "this is not a flashy beauty pageant".
Kogi was bullied by her classmates when she was a child because she was fat, so she said she didn't want any child to have this experience again, so she wanted to "change the rules of beauty pageants and eliminate stereotypes".
She said that Little Miss Aotearoa NZ attaches great importance to the participation of contestants in the field of public welfare, accounting for 30%.
Finally, the ultimate goal of the competition.
"Maybe the most important thing is not the crown, but what you do with it after you get the honor."
Kogi hopes that through the competition, children will be given some honorary titles, and then let them do more influential things with this identity.
Little Miss Aotearoa NZ will give personalized honors to the contestants based on their different characteristics and strengths, and encourage them to develop confidently in their respective fields.
The competition is also a public welfare model, and the proceeds will be donated to Starship.
As mentioned by the writer above, I hope that girls can participate in sports competitions, but not every child has athletic talent or likes sports.
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Winner from an adult beauty pageant
To the director of the children's beauty pageant
Kogi is also a beauty pageant champion himself.
Kogi So, 40, was born in Hong Kong, his parents are Indonesian Chinese, her husband is Korean, and the two have a pair of lovely daughters who live in New Zealand.
She moved to New Zealand in 2015 and has lived here for almost 10 years now, working as a real estate agent.
In 2021, Miss Rotorua's organizers invited her to participate in the pageant, and she had concerns at the time.
"I'm getting older and having my own business. Wouldn't that be presumptuous? ”
She was worried that her clients would see her in a beauty pageant and feel unprofessional.
But in the end, I decided to stand up, also because I wanted to set an example for my children.
"My 8-year-old daughter suddenly asked me one day, why is my hair color different from everyone else?"
Kogi wondered what kind of conversation their classmates had before she asked her daughter to come home and ask such a question.
"I don't think the color of my hair is an issue, and this conversation makes me feel like I should stand up."
So she was invited to participate in the Rotorua beauty pageant, and won the first prize in one fell swoop, and also won the title of Mrs. Universe New Zealand in 2022.
After receiving the honor, Kogi really felt the impact of participating in the beauty pageant on him.
"I've seen a lot of amazing women and made a lot of friends along the way, and it's been a really amazing journey."
Her daughter also wanted to participate in such activities like her mother, and at that time there were no large children's beauty pageants in New Zealand, and many activities were "regional but not international", and children had to stop at their own region.
It's better to run one yourself – Kogi moves from Rotorua to Christchurch in 2024 to start preparing for the event.
In the end, 16 contestants participated in the competition, and the whole competition lasted for 8 weeks, and many parents of the contestants happily shared with Kogi that "my child has become more confident", and similar responses gave Kogi a lot of confidence and motivation.
In this Little Miss Aotearoa NZ little girl beauty pageant, 16 girls from different ethnic groups in New Zealand show off their individual selves on stage.
In the end, 10-year-old Tapaita Fonokalafi won the championship.
At the moment, she is in Turkey, representing New Zealand in the "Miss World" competition.
It will also showcase New Zealand's national culture to the world:
The final will be held tomorrow night.