Miss Universe smiles down on the world<\/p>\n
By Bruce Emond<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): There is no fidgeting with the tiara, no stolen
\nlook to the chaperone across the room, no plaintive groan of "No,
\nnot again" when That Question is asked.<\/p>\n
Miss Universe Denise M. Quinones keeps smiling, as she has
\nthrough lunch on Monday at the office of Mustika Ratu in East
\nJakarta, which is the franchise-holder for the pageant in
\nIndonesia, and the inevitable photo-session with guests and their
\nchildren that followed.<\/p>\n
She does not miss a beat when asked the inevitable: What does
\nshe say to those who criticize the pageant, what some term a meat
\nmarket for living Barbies playing dress up?<\/p>\n
"I respect everybody's opinions about pageants," she says. "I
\nhave to answer with my own experience, which has been great. I
\nhave never felt denigrated as a woman in any aspect. On the
\ncontrary, I think it is a celebration of who we are and gives us
\nopportunities to excel in the areas that we want to ...<\/p>\n
"And after this, my life, if I take it correctly, you know, I
\ncan do whatever I want. It's an incredible experience."<\/p>\n
It's a by-the-book answer in the beauty pageant world, which
\nis licking its wounds from an image-beating in developed
\ncountries in the last few years. In most of Europe, beauty
\npageants are seen, at their most benign, as an anomaly, a quaint
\nthrowback to another time, if it ever existed, where women were
\ndelicate things to be seen, admired, but not much heard.<\/p>\n
The major exception is the United States, which finds itself
\nalone in the developed world in trundling out the stars as TV
\nstations pay big bucks for broadcasting rights to international
\npageants.<\/p>\n
Yet, like a feisty minority taking back the language and
\narguments of the oppressor, beauty pageants are dealing with the
\npesky sexism question head-on. A couple of years ago, the
\nwhat-do-you-say-to-your-critics query was the final round
\nquestion in the pageant, with eventual winner Lara Dutta giving
\nan answer very similar to that of her heir today.<\/p>\n
While beauty pageants may have lost their luster in some parts
\nof the world, they remain big business in Latin America and Asia,
\nwhere beauty "academies" take pretty women and nip and tuck them
\nto an out-of-this-world perfection (Venezuela, in particular, is
\nnotorious for its mass-production line of beauty contestants).<\/p>\n
"It's about the interest," Quinones, one of four Puerto Ricans
\nto win Miss Universe says, a bit cryptically, about the Latin
\nlove affair with pageants. "And the preparation -- they prepare
\nvery, very, very well. They put a lot of effort into it, and that
\nshows."<\/p>\n
Prickly questions and all, Quinones comes across as someone
\nwho is not easily fazed, even by a little controversy -- she took
\na very non-PC stand by wearing a fighting cock outfit for her
\noptional dress in Miss Universe.<\/p>\n
Of course, she has every reason to smile since she was crowned
\nin May on her home soil. She is tall, voluptuous (no Calista bony
\nbod here) and undeniably attractive in a girl-next-door kind of
\nway, if the girl next door looked like Ricky Martin's younger
\nsister. And, yes, for practical purposes, she has striking teeth,
\nperfect, neat rows which are a testament to the influence of
\nAmerican orthodontics.<\/p>\n
But, as the pageant people are quick to tell us, how she looks
\nis only part of the winning equation of brains and beauty and
\n"inner beauty" that led to her being chosen for the title, worth
\nabout US$250,000.<\/p>\n
Family<\/p>\n
Born in Puerto Rico of a father from the island and a mother
\nfrom California (she says one of her grandparents was a Mexican
\nIndian), Quinones grew up in several areas of the island. She has
\na 17-year-old brother who is in high school, "and a very large
\nfamily with lots of aunts and uncles".<\/p>\n
Quinones studied dance and loves to sing and says she entered
\nthe Miss Puerto Rico contest because she "wanted to try it". As
\nluck, beauty and gray matter would have it, she won.<\/p>\n
Winning that title last November and then Miss Universe has
\nmeant putting off her third year at the University of Puerto Rico
\nin San Juan, majoring in communications, for her trip around the
\nworld as Miss Universe. She does not have a boyfriend "because I
\nhave so many things on my mind, so many goals and priorities that
\nit's not my first interest".<\/p>\n
Although Quinones acknowledges the great pride she felt
\nwinning the title in her homeland, she sidesteps a question about
\nPuerto Rico and its sometimes thorny relationship with the
\nmainland.<\/p>\n
"It was an incredible feeling which fills me with honor and
\npride, because not only am I Miss Universe but now I have the
\nopportunity to put Puerto Rico on the map and to be part of the
\namazing group of Puerto Ricans who have done things so far. If
\nit's about certain issues or the press ask me (about them), I can
\ntalk about my people ..."<\/p>\n
She is proud to be a Latina when there is what she calls a
\n"Latin boom" going on, with the success of Martin and Jennifer
\nLopez, both from Puerto Rico, and her mixed heritage.<\/p>\n
"It's incredible. I think the more mixed up we are, the
\nbetter," she laughs. "We add up to a better character,
\npersonality and we are more open to many different ideas and
\npeoples and cultures. It makes you a better human being. It's
\nincredible."<\/p>\n
She visited Portugal as the first stop on her world tour and
\nthen Indonesia ("it's so big, so diverse, I like it very much").
\nYes, it can be tiring, she says, what with meeting the media, the
\ntours of coffee factories and exhibitions, the gala dinners, but
\nshe paces herself.<\/p>\n
"I rest whenever I can ... take things day by day. I like
\nbeing with people, spending time with them, talking with them.
\nIt's my job -- I knew the consequences when I entered the
\npageant."<\/p>\n
It's also a means to an end and, like she said, her future
\nwill be hers for the taking. Quinones is looking at a career in
\nentertainment as a crossover artist, able to draw on her mixed
\nethnic background to become a star in both the Latin
\nentertainment world and Hollywood.<\/p>\n
"I want to sing, dance, have my own records, definitely,"
\nQuinones says.<\/p>\n
She searches for the word to describe the kind of entertainer
\nshe wants to be. She knows it's not eclectic, but multi-
\nsomething.<\/p>\n
"Multi-pathetic? It sounds something like that," she offers.<\/p>\n
Multifaceted, perhaps? "Yes, that's it," Quinones says,
\nbeaming.<\/p>\n
Malapropisms aside, Quinones knows where she is going. While
\nfew Miss Universes have gone on to international careers, usually
\ncontent to make it big as film stars (India, in particular) or
\nentertainers or politicians in their home countries, Quinones may
\njust be different. She has the looks, poise and determination
\nthat belies the easy-going charm to go the distance as an
\nentertainer.<\/p>\n
For now, Denise M. Quinones is on top of the world. And, to
\nuse her most often uttered word, that's incredible.<\/p>",
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