By Ruth Boettner, Daily Nebraskan
Miss America Nina Davuluri. Photo from Getty Images
I hate beauty pageants. Personally, I think they simply instill superficial values in women and young girls — one of many ways in which our society judges people based on their outward appearances. And “Toddlers & Tiaras?” Don’t get me started.
Still, I was one of several University of Nebraska-Lincoln students hoping that Nebraska alumna Nikki Kelly would win the Miss America crown, though I admittedly hadn’t been following the pageant closely. But when I found out that Miss New York, Nina Davuluri , was the first woman of Indian descent to be given the title, I thought to myself, “How awesome!” Curious, I decided to find a video of the crowning. I then found out that the runner-up, Miss California Crystal Lee , was Chinese. Davuluri said of both of them, “We’re both so proud. We’re making history right here, standing here, as Asian-Americans.”I’ll admit it — when I saw the expression on Davuluri’s face when she won, I cried.
At first, I wasn’t sure why I got so emotional over a pageant that I really don’t like. Then I realized it was because these two beautiful, strong women had indeed made history. The fact they’re both in this spotlight means everything to women of Asian descent in America. You may think that their ethnicities are inconsequential, but I’m here to tell you today that that’s not true.
Let me explain.
I am bi-racial: white and Filipino — or, to further generalize it, Asian. However, I was, for all intents and purposes, raised to be “white.” I spoke only English, except a few Ilonggo slang words that I picked up from my mother. My parents didn’t want me to have an accent. And since I was the only child of Asian background in my class for the first several years of my schooling, I was already a little bit different.
Outside of my own family, I had no Asian women as role models in my life. I had plenty of white women to look up to, but who really wants to look up to adults when they’re a pre-teen? My examples were my peers — but only a small number of them.
Read the full article by Ruth Boettner of the Daily Nebraskan.
