Last night, Kara McCullough, Miss District of Columbia, took home the crown at the Miss USA 2017 pageant. Yes, she had some questionable responses that left us scratching our heads, but there are a few things that I admire about the 25 year-old scientist and it definitely stems from her decision to remain true to herself and embrace her naturally curly crown! If you’ve ever watched any pageant, you know how most of the women look the same and wear their hair bone straight, sleek or teased to perfection. So, I was inspired by Kara’s reasons to use her platform to go against the grain and wear her natural hair, she told refinery29, “When I chose to wear my hair natural I had a lot of support from many people, essentially, I decided to embrace what made me feel comfortable, embrace what makes me feel the best and brightest on stage. But also embrace what other people can relate to.”
As we slowly start to witness more diversity and inclusivity in mainstream media it’s showing young women that we have the power to be our own role models. Kara explained, “No one looked like me on television, no one looked like me in commercials, no one looked like me on stage. When I didn’t see anyone in competitions with my hairstyle, I decided I wanted to be the mold.” This resonates with me because growing up I used to watch the Miss USA pageant and I realized how majority of the women didn’t look like me and had little to no authenticity about them, so I no longer tuned in because I couldn’t relate. As a biracial woman, I feel it’s essential that all women are represented in media, no matter their ethnicity, body type, hair texture or skin tone. Representation matters. The more diverse role models we have, the more opportunity we’re given to be exactly who we were created to be and live limitlessly. You go girl!
Another thing I appreciated from this years Miss USA pageant were the beautiful shades of women in the top 10 who represented women of a variety of backgrounds and industries, reminding us that we are LIMITLESS!
We all move forward when we recognize how resilient the women around us are.
Lastly, what topped it all off was the genuine love that was shown from the Former Miss USA, Deshauna Barbers (who also rocked her natural hair”> when she crowned Kara McCullough, pure magic! No matter your outlook on the Miss USA pageant, I hope we can all clap when our sisters win and express genuine love for each other because when one wins, we all win! As one of my favorite poets Rupi Kaur says, “We all move forward when we recognize how resilient the women around us are.”
Did you tune into the Miss USA pageant? Share your thoughts with us below.
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