Monday, May 21, 2012

Age Factor

It seems like former Miss World Fiji, Torika Watters, is not the only pageant that has had to step down due to not meeting the age criteria of the world competition. Maire Hughes won the Miss World Ireland crown, only to have it taken away from her 3 days later because it was found that she was too old.  It's reported that Hughes will be 26 during the Miss World event in Mongolia, making her ineligible. Miss World competition stipulates that pageants have to be between the age of 17-25 during the world event.
 According to Independent Woman ,
organisers inadvertently discovered during a routine conversation that she is 25  and not 21 as originally believed.At a meeting to discuss her role and responsibilities as Miss Ireland, organisers were informed that Miss Hughes will be 26 at the time of the Miss World Pageant in Inner Mongolia, China, in August making her too old to compete.
 The pageant organisers had to contact the parent body officials  "to clarify the rules on the age of entrants." Like Watters of Fiji, Hughes claims that organisers did know about her age prior to the final crowning night.
But in a sensational twist, Maire claimed a Miss Ireland representative had been made aware of her age three days before the final."I made no attempt to conceal my age," she said. "I did notice that there was an age requirement and I made an inquiry with a Miss Ireland representative. In the course of a telephone conversation I was advised by one of the representatives that this was not a significant issue."
There are no reports as to whether, Hughes' claims have been verified, but  it seems like the show must go on and  runner-up, Rebecca Maguire, is now Miss World Ireland.

The questions arises as to how it is that something like this was allowed to happen in the first place? It's reported that Hughes had to "beat off stiff competition from 34 other beauty queens to take the title." It just seems like such a waste of time, effort and money to have gone through all that and be left with nothing.
Hughes claims that 3 days before the finals, she notified organisers about her age, but why wait till that time? Did she herself not know about the age criteria for the Miss World pageant? If she didn't, then why not? You would think that contestants would familiarise themselves with the ins and outs and various criteria of the  event  before agreeing to participate. I mean I would, considering the amount of public scrutiny pageants receive.
And the fact that the organisers themselves did not know about the age limit and had to verify with the pageant parent body, is unacceptable. These are the kinds of details that need to ironed out and made familiar with, before staging such public events. 




3 comments:

  1. I think it is sort of silly and very ignorant on the organisers part. I mean they are the ones who are organising the event. At least they should be aware of the rules of the competition. It is their game and they should know it in and out. I don’t blame the contestants. They obviously want to be part of the event and thus will try their best to get in and according to your article (at least in Torika’s case) she did ask before the competition about the age limitation. I guess its human nature to clear all our doubts before being ruled out, hence the contestants should not be blamed. The blame should be on the organisers, in my opinion. It’s all about following simple rules. Maybe if someone got sued for their negligence then only will the organisers be extra vigilant. Or perhaps the Miss World should give basic training to the various organisers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yet another controversy surrounding Miss World Competition. There has been so much controversy surrounding the whole competition and not only in Fiji. The factor of age has perhaps being the most in the news. In Fiji, Torika is too young. How ignorant are the organizers? Shouldn’t they have asked for a birth certificate before letting her into the competition? That should be one of the first things to look for when accepting a contestant for the Miss World Pageant. Then again the organizers have looked the other way in both Fiji and Irelands’ case. In Torikas situation, she had a place in the semi-finals reserved for her and in Hughes case; the organizers knew of her age three days before the finals yet didn’t act on it until the she was won. Why do the organizers have a favorite?
    But all the age issue is nothing compared to the Miss Canada scandal. Turns out she used to be a guy. This has caused the Miss World organizers to change the criteria for accepting a contestant. So from next year, a person who was born a man but became a woman can enter the pageant.

    ReplyDelete
  3. All the blame has to lie with the organizers. If 16 year old girls were not eligible to participate in the miss world competition then Torika should never have been allowed to participate in the first place. I hope she takes legal action against the organizers because she has a very good case. People should also keep in mind that the whole point of such an event is charity and awareness, something which most people have forgotten.

    ReplyDelete