Leonie von Hase is Miss Germany 2020. Of course this is not enough to make this big news that has been online for days. What's more than a blonde, beautiful and really tall girl? There's the fact that she is 35 yo, she's a mother, she is an online enterpreneur and at the coronation moment she was wearing a double-breasted suit and not the very low-cut costume to which we are still faithfully accostumed.
Beauty, in a broad sense, is too big not to be celebrated, and nobody wants to question that. But how unhealthy and incredibly reductive is to cage it in boxes, categories, rules and put it in a competition that aims at the objective? Who decides who can compete? And based on what? These questions, which arise spontaneously, are the daughters of a way of thinking that is still not very rooted in Italy, where themes like body positivity and body inclusivity are understoody by a small, young and sensitive group of people, but still remain indifferent to the most.
This year, Miss Germany broke the mold and abandoned the old regulation: the jury is composed by only women, raising the age limit of the competitors to 39, and judging them mainly for their personality. But perhaps, what will cause the Italians more disconcerting is the abolition of the aforementioned low-cut costume, letting the girls choose the dress that best represents them.
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Surely this renovation has distanced itself from an almost centennial regulation that seemed to have aged very badly, that no longer embraced current philosphies and that made many people turn up their noses. Surely we are moving towards the de-objetification of women's bodies, with a feminist spirit aimed at female empowerment that leaves behinde a retrograde and patriarchal culture. But the real question is: do we still really need a beauty competition, and yet so atypical?
What drives a jury to reward a woman for her beauty/personality/enterpreneurship over another? Is it not a desire to disguise a traditional beauty contest only full of beautiful principles suitable for this era? And if it's a race that aims to “spread positive messages” as they said, do you have to be beautiful to do that? Beauty is an incredible quality, the importance and the value of this one is up to you and nobody could argue over your tastes and criteria, but do not let the concept of beauty be defined by others, and worse, match it to your personality.
So well, thanks for the big breath of fresh air that you gave to us, it is certainly a step ahead from when girls used to say “I want the peace in the world”, but what we aspire to is still far away if Miss Germany is considered the end point.
Besides, have you ever seen a men's beauty contest on TV? Have you ever seen them compete for their personality or enterpreneurship? Here, that's the point.