True competition isn’t about who pays the most — it’s about who shows up with heart, courage, and integrity. Fairness is the only crown that truly fits.
Yesterday May 31, 2025, at the Femfest 2025 event, something truly eye-opening happened. Several women approached me, thanking me for posting about how beauty pageants have, sadly, become a business. One woman shared her recent experience: she paid a hefty entry fee, invested in expensive outfits, and then was told she had to raise sponsorship funds — with the segment winner being determined not by talent or grace, but by who brought in the most sponsors.
I was deeply disappointed, though not entirely surprised, to hear that in some places, crowns can now be bought.
My mind went back to 1993, when I first began organizing pageants. We believed in integrity, transparency, and purpose. Our scoring system was displayed live on projected screens so that the audience could see it in real time. Judges were carefully selected from diverse backgrounds — community leaders, professionals, creatives — with absolutely no prior connection to the contestants. That transparency kept the judging honest. It held us all accountable.
There were no sponsorship demands placed on participants. No pay-to-win tactics. Just young women competing fairly, with grace and substance — and the crown was earned, not purchased. We handed out scholarships toward education and causes.
Where did those values go?
True pageants were about more than gowns and crowns. They celebrated intelligence, confidence, purpose, and the drive to represent a cause. There was one queen, one runner-up, and a shared commitment to service.
To anyone considering entering a competition today: Please ask questions. If you’re being asked to pay thousands or raise funds just to secure a win, have the courage to challenge it. Competing should be about growth and authenticity — not transactions.
We owe it to the next generation of young women to restore honesty, fairness, and dignity to the platforms that are meant to uplift them. 💫
#RealQueensEarnTheirCrowns #PageantsWithPurpose #FemFest2025 #FairnessFirst #WomenWithVoices, #fromthedeskofrd, #pageants, #fairpageants
