(Note: My apology as I will be writing this in one go, without much edits)
It has been months from when Katherine was crowned Miss Earth 2016. She has been working tirelessly as an Ambassador for Eco-tourism and women empowerment, and yet a lot of people are still criticizing her for her 'unusual built'.
I have been constantly following Kath on IG, FB, and other media and I noticed that there are a lot of comments that are way out of line.
1. Katherine joined a 'beauty pageant'... Exactly!
We all hear this cliche again and again, 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' and clearly, aside from her brain, Carousel and the judges saw her beauty that made her win. So if you don't find her beautiful, then we respect that but there is no need to say she's ugly cause she is not (just like Stephanie) she is beautiful, she may just not be your cup of tea, period!
2. Katherine is not 'stick thin'...
People, especially pageant fans, often discriminate a queen for every inch of their body. We all want a 'perfect' Queen... The question, what makes a queen perfect? Nobody is perfect, and even if they seem perfect for most, they are still not perfect for some... making them not perfect.
One of the imperfections thrown Kath's way is her built.
She is called 'fat' or 'chubby' and does not deserve her win... First off, nothing is bad about being 'fat', or 'chubby'. Kath isn't even obese, she is perfectly healthy, so why attack her for her God-given built?
Are we saying that only 'model-like' figures should join pageants? (Take note: A plus size model is still a MODEL. And the term model is generic so who dictates what a model should look like?)
To add to this, only less than 5% of women are among that 'modelesque' stature...i.e. the Barbies. Majority of women are far from those we see strut the catwalk.
So rather than call them out for being unconventional in their built as beauty queens, shouldn't we appreciate that they look healthy than under/overnourished?
3. Katherine's reign is boring
As observers, maybe, but if you follow what she does through social media, you'll see that she is working.
Miss Earth is not your conventional pageant where the Queen needs to be everywhere. That is the exact reason why she has elemental queens, and other than the elemental queens, the national winners are also Ambassadors who were chosen to drive their cause, which is unique for each country.
Katherine has been all over the Philippines and is scheduled to start her international travels in the next couple of months --- as is usually the case for Miss Earth winners --- so saying her reign is boring, is a bit too early to judge.
As early as now, I for one, won't say her reign is boring, she has accomplished a lot of feats than others. She is travelling and doing her job as Ambassador of Eco-Tourism.
Her elemental queens (except for Stephanie) have been fantastic. US and Colombia are doing amazing. Most other Miss Earth national winners are also actively promoting their cause, which is what MEO intends --- for people to take action for Mother Earth.
Again, I am not a saint here. And yes, I support Miss Earth and all the other pageants, and I am not one to say one is better than the other cause each pageant has their own audience who believes in their cause.
As pageant fans, let us support our Queens and avoid the hate.