'As one of the candidates for this year’s Miss Earth Canada 2014, what does ‘’Beauty for A Cause’’ mean to you and why it should be relevant?
TOP 7 were chosen by 4 judges: Brittney St Amant, Shelvie Marie Fernan, Marie Antonette Carbon, Olivia Awad, Kiki Chen, Cynthia Loewen and Abbey Taylor Weber.
TOP 7 were chosen by 4 judges: Brittney St Amant, Shelvie Marie Fernan, Marie Antonette Carbon, Olivia Awad, Kiki Chen, Cynthia Loewen and Abbey Taylor Weber.
The winner of the 'Beauty for a Cause' award, Abbey-Taylor Weber, impressed the judges and everyone with this meaningful piece which she presented during preliminary night. Thank you Abbey for your inspiring speech!
'As Scott Westerfeld wrote, “What you do, the way you think, makes you beautiful”, and in my mind, a thought more true has never been written. As a society we often forget that the most beautiful person in the room is seldom the person with the best hair, the most makeup, the smallest waist, or even the most refined features. As a contestant in Miss Earth Canada, I am always proud to share with people the meaning of the Miss Earth pageant: the axiomatic Beauty for a Cause principle around which the whole pageant is crafted. It is Beauty for a Cause which first drew me to this pageant, and the idea that the beauty of a person is not found only on their skin, that drives me forward.
I spent my childhood as the ugly duckling among my classmates, and it took me a long time to understand for myself that beauty is not solely found in the arrangement of features or the structure of bones or skin or muscle, but in the radiation of the confidence and power you find within yourself. Beauty surfaces in the way that you treat people who owe you nothing and to whom you have no debt; in the strength and peace you build within yourself; in the words that you speak when no one is listening; in the profundity of your thoughts; in the breadth of your knowledge; in the battles you fight and ideals you uphold and strive to protect. This is what makes the Miss Earth pageant system different and important- the idea that the beauty of a woman is not only defined by the esthetic of her body or the amount of glitter on her dress or the height of her heels, but by the far more substantial things that fill her body and her dress and her high heels. The Miss Earth pageant focuses on the intelligence, morals, personality and ideals of the individual women who enter the competition and the values and causes they stand for. This is what Beauty for a Cause means to me: strong, empowered women sharing the confidence, power, intelligence and conviction we have in our own selves and using it to do something positive by supporting the salvation of our precious Earth and striving to make a difference in the lives of others.
Why is this relevant? Why does Beauty for a Cause matter? The world we live in now is obsessed with size and appearance and perfection, and I think remembering the truth in beauty and the reasons we are beautiful is more important now than ever before in our collective human history. We are careening toward a future where young girls the world over will base their self-worth entirely on the features they see in the mirror, ignoring completely their talents, abilities and academic strengths. We are beginning to lose sight of the things that are truly beautiful- they are overshadowed by photo edited images and false expectations. It is all too easy to forget, too, that the definition of beauty pageant has long become outdated- pageants are no longer only celebrations of the physical, but are increasingly becoming champions of intelligence, mental acuity, charismatic speakers and gifted performers and writers. Pageants like the Miss Earth system and the principle of Beauty for a Cause are becoming more and more relevant to our society because they serve to remind us of the reasons we are all truly beautiful, every last person, wherever we are.
We are beautiful because we have validity and intelligence to support ourselves and our journeys in life.
We are beautiful because we use our creative outlets to evoke change and compassion in the people who surround us and in our communities.
We are beautiful because we take ownership of the stage every time our high heels hit its surface. We are beautiful because we are talented, each in our own way.
We are beautiful because we have the guts to express our thoughts and opinions.
We are beautiful because we are confident.
We are beautiful because we have a worthwhile cause dear to our heart that we are fighting to bring light and support to.
Being a beauty for a cause has never been more relevant to society, globally and as a whole, than it is now. As we stand here today, let us all remember the things that make each and every one of us beautiful, for all that we do and all that we are. This is what Beauty for a Cause means to me: remembering the true causes for beauty and celebrating them; rejoicing in our beautiful traits and striving for change. - Abbey-Taylor Weber
I spent my childhood as the ugly duckling among my classmates, and it took me a long time to understand for myself that beauty is not solely found in the arrangement of features or the structure of bones or skin or muscle, but in the radiation of the confidence and power you find within yourself. Beauty surfaces in the way that you treat people who owe you nothing and to whom you have no debt; in the strength and peace you build within yourself; in the words that you speak when no one is listening; in the profundity of your thoughts; in the breadth of your knowledge; in the battles you fight and ideals you uphold and strive to protect. This is what makes the Miss Earth pageant system different and important- the idea that the beauty of a woman is not only defined by the esthetic of her body or the amount of glitter on her dress or the height of her heels, but by the far more substantial things that fill her body and her dress and her high heels. The Miss Earth pageant focuses on the intelligence, morals, personality and ideals of the individual women who enter the competition and the values and causes they stand for. This is what Beauty for a Cause means to me: strong, empowered women sharing the confidence, power, intelligence and conviction we have in our own selves and using it to do something positive by supporting the salvation of our precious Earth and striving to make a difference in the lives of others.
Why is this relevant? Why does Beauty for a Cause matter? The world we live in now is obsessed with size and appearance and perfection, and I think remembering the truth in beauty and the reasons we are beautiful is more important now than ever before in our collective human history. We are careening toward a future where young girls the world over will base their self-worth entirely on the features they see in the mirror, ignoring completely their talents, abilities and academic strengths. We are beginning to lose sight of the things that are truly beautiful- they are overshadowed by photo edited images and false expectations. It is all too easy to forget, too, that the definition of beauty pageant has long become outdated- pageants are no longer only celebrations of the physical, but are increasingly becoming champions of intelligence, mental acuity, charismatic speakers and gifted performers and writers. Pageants like the Miss Earth system and the principle of Beauty for a Cause are becoming more and more relevant to our society because they serve to remind us of the reasons we are all truly beautiful, every last person, wherever we are.
We are beautiful because we have validity and intelligence to support ourselves and our journeys in life.
We are beautiful because we use our creative outlets to evoke change and compassion in the people who surround us and in our communities.
We are beautiful because we take ownership of the stage every time our high heels hit its surface. We are beautiful because we are talented, each in our own way.
We are beautiful because we have the guts to express our thoughts and opinions.
We are beautiful because we are confident.
We are beautiful because we have a worthwhile cause dear to our heart that we are fighting to bring light and support to.
Being a beauty for a cause has never been more relevant to society, globally and as a whole, than it is now. As we stand here today, let us all remember the things that make each and every one of us beautiful, for all that we do and all that we are. This is what Beauty for a Cause means to me: remembering the true causes for beauty and celebrating them; rejoicing in our beautiful traits and striving for change. - Abbey-Taylor Weber
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