Even when America loses international beauty pageants, we can still claim the "W."
The newly minted Miss World 2013 Megan Young, who hails from the Philippines, was actually born just a stone’s throw from the Washington Monument in Alexandria, Va. She moved to the Philippines when she was 10.
"I promise to be the best Miss World ever," said Young, 23, after winning the 63rd event. For the uninitiated, Miss World is different from the Miss USA/Universe and Miss America pageants, the number of leagues making beauty pageants more like professional boxing than you'd want it to be.
The event sparked serious backlash. Originally, it was to be held in the majority Muslim city of Jakarta where protestors attacked the pageant for not adhering to Muslim teachings. Organizers moved the competition to Bali, which is predominantly Hindi and Australian tourist. While not quite canceling the event outright, the Islamic Defenders Front was able to convince organizers to nix the swimsuit pageant.
So this was as scandalous as the pageant got:
The U.S. representative, Olivia Jordan, made it into the Top 20, out of over 127 countries represented.
I'd wager that Jordan would have fared better if the swimsuit portion had been retained.
Jordan and Young set aside the sashes emblazoned with the names of their sponsoring countries, and joined for a photo in the name of sportsmanship.
