Miss who? – The Hindu

Manushi Chhillar. File.
| Photo Credit: Rajneesh Londhe

What do you think right-wing enthusiasts and radical feminists agree on? Abortion? Dowry? Equal pay? Well, in the summer of 1996, they joined forces to stop the Miss World pageant from taking place in India. But their efforts could only manage to shift the swimsuit round to Seychelles, a country in Africa. 

After 28 years in countries like China, the United States, and the United Kingdom, the Miss World pageant has returned to India. This time, it is a new India where 30-second reels outperform Salman Khan’s films and Fair & Lovely has rebranded as Glow & Lovely, political correctness, am I right, ladies?

Like products on the assembly line, the hair on these women’s heads is dyed, sometimes straightened, and other times curled; the hair on the rest of their body is waxed, shaved, and lasered off. Eyebrows are plucked, drawn, and even tattooed on, while eyes are lined and lashes glued on them. Lately, their noses are being constructed and dissolved — no organ is spared from the onslaught of beauty. And all of this for what?

For Priyanka Chopra to get on the world stage and say that the most successful living person in 2000 was Mother Teresa, who passed away three years before the question was even asked? 

Miss World 2024 Krystyna Pyszková of the Czech Republic greets media personnel during a press conference for the forthcoming 72nd Miss World beauty pageant in Hyderabad, India, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
| Photo Credit:
MAHESH KUMAR A.

Let us get real though, what motivation do young girls have while applying to the pageants now? A career similar to that of Aishwarya Rai seems out of bounds because social media has replaced old-school applications and scouting agents. A ring light, a couple of thousand followers on Instagram, and a brand collaboration will do. You could get discovered at the Kumbh Mela for having light-coloured eyes and be given the moniker of ‘Mona Lisa’, and if these accidents do not happen, you can always walk to the cosmetologist’s office down the street and get Botox treatments, or a new nose. 

What was once spoken about in hushed tones is now revealed to the world in ‘get ready with me’ stories and ‘a day in my life’ videos. The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery’s survey in 2023 ranked India second and third in rhinoplasty and liposuction surgeries and seventh overall in surgical and nonsurgical aesthetic procedures. 

The pressure to look drop-dead gorgeous is not reserved for the women on thrones wearing crowns and sashes, it has now trickled down to everyday women on the internet. Skincare today does not stop at a face wash and moisturiser. Today, we have 25-step long routines that involve applying snails’ slime and red LED light masks that look like props right out of a horror movie set.

You see, not much has changed — beauty that was once broadcast on television screens has now made its way to our phones. The crown has been replaced by brand deals and the audience is now the followers on your profile, judges are replaced by personalised algorithms, and calls for world peace have been substituted with calls for sustainable shopping. Women are still welcomed into the world of beauty, expecting them to perform.

Level up

MOTHER — Gone are the days when ‘mother’ meant parenthood. Today, younglings use the word, mostly in all caps for emphasis, to compliment a woman or a queer icon who is unapologetically themselves. You most certainly do not have to foster, adopt, or birth children to be MOTHER in the internet age. All you need to do is carry yourself with flair, confidence, and gravitas. Usage: Did you see Lady Gaga’s new photoshoot? She is MOTHER.

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Hyderabad, Mar 20 (ANI): Miss World 2024 of the Czech Republic, Krystyna Pyszkova greets during a Miss World press conference, in Hyderabad on Thursday. (ANI Photo)
| Photo Credit:
ANI