Social media has been vocal about the Mr South Africa competition and the pictures of the 20 finalists that were released last week.
Many people got in on the fun, often comic, commentary at the expense of the contestants, the photographer and the Mr SA organisation.
While most of the comments were about how very ordinary looking the contestants are, the one repeated most often, compares the official photographs to criminal mug shots that should never have been released, never mind approved for publicity.
There was a lot of mocking and teasing of the contestants, which I thought was extremely juvenile, but I also understood many of the comments and arguments.
However, I found the bullying that was happening before the conversation became a bit more meaningful, very distasteful.
The fact that adults were making some very immature comments about other adults in an era when we are trying to teach our youth about the evils of cyber bullying, was disappointing and rather confounding.
Sadly, I am getting so used to the internet bringing out the very worst in humanity.
But then the conversation took a very sudden and sharp turn to the left, when people started talking about the differences between Mr and Miss SA and why society allows it.
It was this change in the narrative that convinced me to make my own contribution.
Some very deep and profound questions were being asked about why certain criteria that apply to Miss SA contestants, didn’t apply to their male counterparts.
Norms
It should be noted that the two competitions are independently owned and have nothing to do with each other, but they are still interesting food for thought about the norms of our society.
Why are we OK with being judged by the masses for our looks or talents, skills or our abs?
Why are we willingly subjecting ourselves to fine scrutiny by a panel of supposed experts and sometimes ridicule by the public, in the name of entertainment?
It is as if we are living out society’s 1920s wet dream, in a time where technology is finally making it all possible.
And of all these so-called talent competitions, the beauty pageant remains the one that makes the least sense and is the most laughable.
And if you are going to enter one whose name starts with Mr, Mrs or Miss, then it unfortunately comes with a history of mundane shallowness that is going to be almost impossible to shake off in our lifetime.
But I do think we should try to shake it.
Like the CEO of Mr SA says, the competition is open to all men with integrity and heart.
I reckon that is where we should try and steer these competitions.
I know at first it’s going to be a joke sending an average-looking, 45-year-old, out-of-shape,
single mother of three to go compete with other contestants for the Miss Universe title.
Aspiring
But isn’t that what we as a society should be aspiring towards; to celebrate ordinary people doing extraordinary things, every single day that helps us build a better future?
So whether it was a bad PR decision or not, the Mr SA debacle may just be helping us all to see how awesome it would be to celebrate good, ordinary people.
And helping us realise that it should, in fact, be that single mother who still manages to send decent children out into the world, who should be getting all the attention (and those fabulous prizes, after being crowned Miss Universe).