{"id":83684,"date":"2022-10-01T09:50:16","date_gmt":"2022-10-01T09:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/miss-usas-president-says-it-isnt-a-fair-assessment-that-pageant-is-all-about-beauty\/"},"modified":"2022-10-01T09:50:16","modified_gmt":"2022-10-01T09:50:16","slug":"miss-usas-president-says-it-isnt-a-fair-assessment-that-pageant-is-all-about-beauty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/miss-usas-president-says-it-isnt-a-fair-assessment-that-pageant-is-all-about-beauty\/","title":{"rendered":"Miss USA&#8217;s president says it isn&#8217;t &#8216;a fair assessment&#8217; that pageant is all about beauty"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div class=\"caas-figure-with-pb\" style=\"max-height: 1440px\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container\" style=\"padding-bottom:150%;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\">Crystle Stewart attending the 2019 Miss Universe Pageant in Atlanta.  (Photo: Paras Griffin\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>When Crystle Stewart was a young girl growing up in Texas, she recalls a friend suggesting she start doing pageants.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never wanted to compete in the pageants, to be honest \u2026 I was a tomboy,\u201d Stewart tells Yahoo Life.  \u201cI looked at her and I said, &#8216;Man, I&#8217;m not interested.&#8217;\u201d But Stewart&#8217;s friend was relentless, and eventually, she gave in and entered a local competition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI grew so much and learned so much about myself \u2014 my tenacity, my perseverance, because it took me a while actually to win my state pageant,\u201d she tells Yahoo Life.  \u201cI just ended up getting hooked on it.  And here I am today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Where she is now could not be much further from her \u201cnot interested\u201d beginning: President of the Miss USA Organization.  As such, she is the first Black woman to helm the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants, and the first person to ever license the pageants from the Miss Universe Organization.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s an honor,\u201d Stewart, 41, says of her position heading into the 2022 Miss USA pageant in Reno, set to stream on Hulu Live TV and air on the FYI Network on Monday, Oct.  3 at 8 pm ET, and via pay-per-view on the Miss USA website.  \u201cIt&#8217;s a privilege to be, hopefully, a role model to other African-American young women or minorities \u2026 We need more women in these leadership roles.  And to have this opportunity to showcase that, to set your goals and aim for that success, is a dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div style=\"\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container caas-img-loader noheight\"><img class=\"caas-img caas-lazy has-preview\" alt=\"Host Steve Harvey speaks to Miss USA Elle Smith during the Miss Universe pageant in the Red Sea resort of Eilat, Israel December 13, 2021. REUTERS\/Ronen Zvulun\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/gL7ZEO_HGac2swb2k5K8gQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-09\/1c6ae590-40fb-11ed-abf7-47225f08f8b1\"\/><noscript><img alt=\"Host Steve Harvey speaks to Miss USA Elle Smith during the Miss Universe pageant in the Red Sea resort of Eilat, Israel December 13, 2021. REUTERS\/Ronen Zvulun\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/gL7ZEO_HGac2swb2k5K8gQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-09\/1c6ae590-40fb-11ed-abf7-47225f08f8b1\" class=\"caas-img\"\/><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\">Host Steve Harvey speaks to Miss USA Elle Smith during the Miss Universe pageant in Israel in Dec.  2021. (Photo: REUTERS\/Ronen Zvulun)<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Her journey to this position is certainly well-earned: After winning Miss Texas after four attempts in 2008, she went on to win Miss USA.  She then went on to create a pageant coaching company called Miss Academy (\u201cI just think of it as a modern-day finishing school,\u201d she says) and occasionally works as an actress, among other related endeavors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;ve competed, I&#8217;ve judged, I&#8217;ve directed a local pageant.  And so, I feel I know what these young women are wanting, down to the details of how much sleep they need!  But also taking just my experience, the resources, the tools, the networking opportunities I&#8217;ve had \u2026 I&#8217;m trying to put more of the focus on the contestants and the opportunities that they can have, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><button class=\"link caas-button collapse-button\" aria-label=\"\" title=\"\" data-ylk=\"elm:readmore;slk:Story continues\">Story continues<\/button><\/p>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div style=\"\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container caas-img-loader noheight\"><img class=\"caas-img caas-lazy has-preview\" alt=\"Miss Texas Crystle Stewart poses after being crowned Miss USA during the Miss USA 2008 pageant at the Planet Hollywood hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada April 11, 2008. The show, hosted by brother and sister duo Donnie and Marie Osmond, was broadcasted live ten NBCs.  REUTERS\/Steve Marcus (UNITED STATES).  FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY.  NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS.\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/nLyG0Mq2ZbO0EQ.tf4.2jg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-09\/f809f570-40f9-11ed-b3e3-eba5fe921cc1\"\/><noscript><img alt=\"Miss Texas Crystle Stewart poses after being crowned Miss USA during the Miss USA 2008 pageant at the Planet Hollywood hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada April 11, 2008. The show, hosted by brother and sister duo Donnie and Marie Osmond, was broadcasted live ten NBCs.  REUTERS\/Steve Marcus (UNITED STATES).  FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY.  NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS.\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/nLyG0Mq2ZbO0EQ.tf4.2jg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-09\/f809f570-40f9-11ed-b3e3-eba5fe921cc1\" class=\"caas-img\"\/><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\">Crystle Stewart poses after being crowned Miss USA in 2008 (Photo: REUTERS\/Steve Marcus)<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Her aim, as a mentor, is to guide contestants in a way that might seem antithetical to pageantry: \u201cTo make sure that just beauty isn&#8217;t at the forefront,\u201d she says, but to help them figure out, \u201cWhat depth do you have to offer to the world in general \u2014 to your job, to your relationship, to your family, to your friends?  Just helping them navigate life, and using pageants as a platform.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At least part of Stewart&#8217;s inspiration has come from yet another huge endeavor: motherhood.  She is the parent to a son, 2, and a daughter, 5, and while the balancing act of work and mothering has been &#8220;challenging,&#8221; she says, it keeps her focused.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s at the forefront when I wake up in the morning, making sure my kids are proud of me and the legacy I can leave behind, and that I&#8217;m a role model for them,&#8221; she says.  &#8220;If I keep them at the forefront, it makes things go smoother because they are my priority.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Stewart&#8217;s daughter, who has autism, has especially taught her a lot about resilience and expectations.  &#8220;It was challenging in the beginning, when I first found out,&#8221; she says about her initial diagnosis.  &#8220;You think the thing you dreamed of for your child is over, but it&#8217;s not, and that&#8217;s something I&#8217;ve learned as she grows older: The same dreams can still come true.&#8221;  And while that might include pageantry, admits Stewart \u2014 who once found her girl &#8220;walking like a pro in my heels \u2026 she was 4!&#8221;  \u2014 she says, &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t push her to do it. It would have to be something natural.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Of course, everything from raising her kids to competing herself has informed her vision of Miss USA, which she calls \u201cpageantry reimagined,\u201d with an aim to reject the \u201cstereotypical\u201d image of what it&#8217;s all about.  \u201cThe stereotypical image is that cookie cutter image \u2014 you have to be a certain type, your journey&#8217;s created for you,\u201d she says. &#8220;And that&#8217;s the image I don&#8217;t want people to have, just to break into the American audience more and make it even more relatable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a tall order for a pageant that&#8217;s been owned by former president Donald Trump, at times been mired in controversy and was actually created to be a marketing platform for swimsuit company Catalina in 1952, leading many to think of it as being a strict beauty pageant as compared to Miss America, which has ditched the swimsuit competition while working hard to reposition itself as a scholarship contest.<\/p>\n<p>But, says Stewart, \u201cI don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s a fair assessment at all.  With Miss America, they perform a talent \u2026 I guess the difference with Miss USA, is that they don&#8217;t perform a talent.  But we gave $25,000 in the scholarship to our Miss Teen USA winner and also upped the salary of Miss USA as a job.  This is a working woman, you know.  She she&#8217;s not just doing photo shoots all day. \u201d<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s true that Miss USA has expanded its horizons in many ways in recent years, including with high-profile contestants who have made impacts through wearing their hair natural, speaking out about issues such as bipolar disorder, Down syndrome and facing homelessness, and by being bisexual or transgender.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want all women of all shapes, colors, creeds to join the pageant industry,\u201d Stewart says of her vision for Miss USA.  \u201cAnd they define their journey: What&#8217;s your platform?  What are you interested in?  What do you like to do?  That&#8217;s what we focus on now.  Helping them define their journey in the pageant industry.\u201d  She stops short from calling Miss USA a \u201cfeminist\u201d endeavor, but only because the word \u201ccan have this negative connotation to it,\u201d she says, noting, \u201cIt&#8217;s women empowerment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She points out that among the responsibilities of reigning Miss USA Elle Smith has been working with charitable partner Smile Train and giving motivational speeches.  \u201cWe go beyond beauty and look into depth.  Is she a gorgeous woman?  yeah.  Does she put herself together?  Does she work out?  Is she physically healthy?  Is she mentally healthy?  yes.  Those are the things that we encourage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Including when it comes to the swimsuit competition, she says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbsolutely.  They have a swimsuit competition.  I know what it did for me.  I was very insecure about my body type \u2026 But going into it and winning the swimsuit competition in my first pageant made me feel more confident about my body, made me want to take care of it more.  I started eating better, working out \u2026 and just being the best version of myself.  So, it&#8217;s not just for men to sit out there and look at you like, &#8216;Ooh.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her aim is to open the pageant up more to \u201cdifferent body types [while] promoting a healthy lifestyle,\u201d she adds.  \u201cAnd that does not mean you have to be a size two.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another goal is to bring more young viewers into the fold \u2014 something that was top of mind when redesigning the Miss USA website with a decidedly influencer feel, include its millennial-pink color scheme.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I think of the reimagining, I think of the whole shebang.  I&#8217;m very detail-oriented.  So not only did we change the website, but the social media platform \u2026 that was very, very, very important.  And since Miss USA is an influencer and they go to these different digital platforms, we have to make sure it&#8217;s set up [for that] and could stand up to next to what we were speaking about with reimagining,\u201d which included, she says, going \u201cwith a blush tone\u201d and \u201cskewing to that younger demographic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As for who might win the Miss USA crown, she emphasizes, \u201cIt&#8217;s not just physical beauty \u2026 but the whole package,\u201d as \u201cpoise and grace\u201d in the evening gown competition is just as important as the swimsuit portion and the interview.  \u201cAll things are scored equally,\u201d she says.  \u201cSo you have to be just as beautiful as you are intelligent and able to speak confidently as well.  We want well-rounded young women.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Wellness, parenting, body image and more: Get to know the <\/strong><strong><em>who<\/em><\/strong><strong>  behind the <\/strong><strong><em>hoo<\/em><\/strong><strong>  with Yahoo Life&#8217;s newsletter. <\/strong><strong>Sign up here<\/strong><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Crystle Stewart attending the 2019 Miss Universe Pageant in Atlanta. (Photo: Paras Griffin\/Getty Images) When Crystle Stewart was a young girl growing up in Texas, she recalls a friend suggesting she start doing pageants. \u201cI never wanted to compete in the pageants, to be honest \u2026 I was a tomboy,\u201d Stewart tells Yahoo Life. \u201cI &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/miss-usas-president-says-it-isnt-a-fair-assessment-that-pageant-is-all-about-beauty\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Miss USA&#8217;s president says it isn&#8217;t &#8216;a fair assessment&#8217; that pageant is all about beauty<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":89033,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/contestants-claim-miss-usa-2022-pageant-was-rigged\/","url_meta":{"origin":83684,"position":0},"title":"Contestants claim Miss USA 2022 pageant was rigged","date":"October 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Were Miss USA pageant-goers miss-led this year? \u201cHumiliated\u201d contestants claim the 2022 Miss USA pageant was rigged and that the winner of the contest, Miss Texas R'Bonney Gabriel, was predetermined \u2014 or so say circulating TikTok, which claim no one had a \u201cfair chance.\u201d Miss Montana Heather Lee O'Keefe fired\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Contestants claim no one had a \"fair chance\" in the 2022 Miss USA pageant because it was rigged.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/miss-usa-RBonney-nola-comp.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":88008,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/houston-texas-model-crowned-first-filipino-american-miss-usa\/","url_meta":{"origin":83684,"position":1},"title":"Houston, Texas model crowned first Filipino American Miss USA","date":"October 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"R'Bonney Gabriel will now compete for Miss Universe after taking the Miss Texas USA and Miss USA crowns! HOUSTON \u2014 Friendswood model and fashion designer, R'Bonney Gabriel, continues to make history. The winner of Miss Texas USA 2022 now holds the crown for Miss USA after winning the pageant Monday\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57300,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/miss-england-finalist-becomes-first-in-pageants-history-to-compete-without-makeup\/","url_meta":{"origin":83684,"position":2},"title":"Miss England finalist becomes first in pageant&#8217;s history to compete without makeup","date":"August 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"write by Jacqui PalumboToyin Owoseje, CNNA Miss England finalist has become the first ever beauty queen to compete without wearing any makeup in the pageant's nearly century-long history.Melisa Raouf, a 20-year-old college student from south London, moved forward at the pageant's semifinals on Monday after opting for a barefaced look.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/lezzNxVn34xYCGYjPVf4wQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD0xODAw\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-09\/e883a790-40f9-11ed-b7fe-8a9e1b8fb92c","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83684"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83684\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}