As many of you know (if you keep up to date with pop culture that is) Deshauna Barber is Miss USA 2016. If you don’t know, Deshauna Barber is an IT analyst in the United States Army and is a lieutenant.
Beauty pageants have gone on for decades, and there are many stereotypes to go along with them. My own mother was a model growing up, and competed in Miss Massachusetts pageants and was Miss Holbrook for two consecutive years.
When I wanted to pursue modeling, she wouldn’t let me because of the stereotypes pageant modeling holds as well as the cut-throat competition behind it. She warned how it impacted her own self-esteem since she's being compared to other girls and basically the best one wins based off looks.
Miss USA 2016 broke this stereotype.
This is District of Columbia’s third Miss USA winner. Deshauna Barber was not only eloquent and poised, but also had something that many of the other contestants didn’t have — a point to prove.
Granted, the other contestants were all beautiful and very accomplished, but none of them did anything in regard to awareness.
Deshauna Barber taught everyone something about gender limitation. All the other contestants basically talked about how they help the world and how they give back, but anyone can do that.
Not everyone can voice an opinion about something that is so underrated. I hope more pageant models aspire to have the idea of being a strong woman aspiring to prove a point, rather than a beautiful face who picks and chooses which cause they want to support.
We need more women like her to raise awareness, so that issues like gender limitation are no longer on the back burner. It's sad that women have to second guess their abilities due to their gender, especially when they want to serve our country.
She wanted to prove how gender shouldn’t limit women anywhere or with anything. Proving how since she is a commander of her unit she is just as skilled as any man and that gender shouldn’t determine a woman’s stance in the United States Army.
She wanted to prove that just because she has a pretty face, it doesn’t mean she isn’t as determined or skilled as any man in the army.
Girls begin to have confidence issues at such a young age, and part of the reason is because they feel as though they can’t do everything boys can without being judged.
I think it is so important for girls to look up to Deshauna Barber because she proves that not only she can fight for this country, but she can still be an independent, eloquent, resilient women on a pageant stage.
So, Miss USA, I salute you. I salute you for bringing awareness to a topic that isn’t looked at enough. I salute you for being a strong woman and stressing how women should aspire to be strong. Lastly, I salute you for serving our country and for your passion for serving this country, which was obviously evident when you were on stage.
