Miss Mexico crowned Miss Universe 2021

On the day South China Morning Post carried this headline : Mexico’s president presented an apology Monday for a 1911 massacre in which over 300 Chinese people were slaughtered by revolutionary troops in the northern city of Torreón, Mexico was celebrating something else !

The apology is the latest in a series of ceremonies in which President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has sought to make amends for the mistreatment of Indigenous and minority people in Mexico in past centuries, the SCMP post added.  The 1911 killings of 303 Chinese men, women and children occurred during the chaotic period of the Mexican Revolution, when revolutionary troops overran Torreón, sealing the fate of long-time ruler Porfirio Díaz. The loss of the city led Díaz to resign and leave for exile. Torreón was a booming railway town, and control of it was key to rail lines north to the United States. Some Mexicans grumbled that Chinese were taking jobs or depressing wage rates; others were envious of the Chinese community’s economic success.

Away from this history – Mexico was celebrating its success in Miss Universe 2021.  'It's a dream come true': 6ft software engineer Miss Mexico, 26, was crowned Miss Universe 2021 after wowing judges in a hot pink mini dress, a yellow bikini and an Aztec dragon national costume. On Monday, she told Good Morning America that she used to think 'Mexican people were not able to get to these places', and admitted that she didn't ever believe she was 'pretty or smart enough' for beauty pageants.  She said that she is 'not the prettiest, not the skinniest', and added that she hopes her win will help to show other women that they can defy conventional beauty standards to achieve their own dreams

The Autonomous University of Chihuahua grad  Meza managed to beat out 74 other contestants for the title at the 69th annual beauty competition  - Miss Mexico Andrea Meza was crowned Miss Universe 2021 on Sunday a year after the 2020 pageant was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.  Meza - who has 40 cousins and wowed judges in a hot pink mini dress, a yellow bikini and Aztec dragon national costume - is reportedly the third Mexican woman to ever win the crown, following Lupita Jones and Ximena Navarrete.    'I am so honored to have been selected among the 73 other amazing women I stood with tonight,' Meza said in a press release from the Miss Universe Organization. 'It is a dream come true to wear the Miss Universe crown, and I hope to serve the world through my advocacy for equality in the year to come and beyond.'

'We live in a society that more and more is more than advanced, and as we advance as a society, we've also advanced with stereotypes,' she said in her final statement during the pageant !!  'Nowadays beauty isn't only the way we look. For me, beauty radiates not only in our spirit, but in our hearts and the way that we conduct ourselves. Never permit someone to tell you that you're not valuable.' 

The six-foot-tall model and makeup-artist, who is from Chihuahua City, is also an activist, and 'works closely with the Municipal Institute for Women, which aims to end gender-based violence.' She additionally serves as the official Tourism Brand Ambassador for her hometown. On Monday, hours after claiming her crown, Andrea appeared on Good Morning America to celebrate her win, revealing that she spent many years thinking that Mexican people were not able of achieving success on such a prestigious global platform.  However that 'mindset' changed when Andrea saw her countryman Ximena Navarrete claim the Miss Universe crown in 2010, she revealed.  But even after overcoming her fears about how her heritage might hold her back, Andrea says she still faced an uphill battle to achieve the kind of self-confidence needed to step out on the Miss Universe stage.  

Andrea added that her feelings of self doubt made her Miss Universe dream seem 'impossible' at times, however she says she was determined to 'get out of her comfort zone' - even if that meant facing her fears head-on.  'It was an impossible dream that I had, but I started growing up and I decided that this was the path that I needed to take in order to get out of my comfort zone and keep growing,' she explained.  

'I just like to picture myself to others like a normal person. If you look at my social media, yeah you can find pictures where I'm looking fabulous, but I also like to show them the real me, the real Andrea, and the normal activities, and having a normal look.  During the Q&A round with four other contestants, Andrea was asked about beauty standards in the fast-evolving age of technology.

'We live in a society that more and more is more advanced and as we have advanced as a society, we have advanced with stereotypes,' Meza explained through a translator. 'Nowadays, beauty is not only the way we look. For me, beauty radiates not only in our spirits, but in our hearts and the way we conduct ourselves. Never permit someone to tell you that you are not valuable.'  

'Create the lockdown even before everything was that big': The 6ft vegan - who reportedly has Chinese ancestry - also explained how she would have handled the coronavirus pandemic through a translator. 'Because we lost so many lives and we cannot afford that. We have to take care of our people. That's why I would have taken care of them since the beginning.' 

Interesting  !?!?!?!? 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
18.5.2021.