Cindy Bosley created an essay that speaks about mother/daughter relationships and the genetic lottery. Cindy’s mother always wanted her daughter to be a pageant girl. Although Cindy’s aunt was the cheerleader that was blessed with all the looks, Cindy’s mother thought she could live vicariously through her daughter.
As soon as Cindy entered the pageant, she came up with reasons why she had an equal shot at winning. It wasn’t long before she realized all the odds were stacked up against her. She was overweight, she didn’t meet the check box requirements, she couldn’t afford the expensive leg warmers, she had to wear her old prom dress, she couldn’t afford a nice headshot, and she didn’t have the right answers.
By the end of the pageant, Cindy realized that she was bound to lose before the pageant began. There was nothing that she could have personally done to win it. She did not win the genetic lottery. She was not born into the right family. She did not grow up in the right neighborhood. She did not have the right finances. She was not trained to say the right answers. All around, Cindy did not fit the mold of a pageant princess.
I like this essay a lot because it sheds light on the fact that a lot of our future is based upon uncontrollable circumstances. No matter how beautiful Cindy is naturally, she does not have the money that it takes to win the pageant. I know a lot of people who feel as though they are trapped in poverty. Without the resources to pursue their dreams, people fall back on the lifestyle of their parents.
Cindy didn’t win the genetic lottery, and neither did a lot of people I know, but I believe that through personal determination and work, people can break through their uncontrollable circumstances. Life isn’t fair. While some people I know get a brand new Range Rover, others have to save up money from their minimum wage job for four years to buy a 1998 Oldsmobile. Those uncontrollable circumstances and inequalities do not give you an excuse not to try. Your future goals are still up to you; The amount of effort it takes to reach them is not.
I unfortunately agree with you that money often does play a hugely important role in how people are viewed. You discussed in your post the person who has to save for years and years to merely afford an "Oldsmobile" and unfortunately due to those circumstances, that person will probably be looked down upon or made fun of because their vehicle is not up to societal standards. I work with the homeless in my community by bringing them meals in my hometown, and hearing their stories expresses a lot of what you were talking about: Uncontrollable circumstances. They are trying everything they can to get out of the motel, or off of the street, but are having a hard time finding the means to do that when [generalized] society as a whole feels that they did something to deserve to be there, or in that position. I think this essay proves a point: we need to stop judging people based on what they have and what they look like and start making judgments on them and their situation only after we have come to know the person they are. I am well aware that this is rather impossible to do in beauty pageants, I am merely saying that a lot of the ways we judge contestants in these pageants and other beauty contests is then transferred to how we "judge" people in everyday life...which is not how it should be.
ReplyDeleteI unfortunately agree with you that money often does play a hugely important role in how people are viewed. You discussed in your post the person who has to save for years and years to merely afford an "Oldsmobile" and unfortunately due to those circumstances, that person will probably be looked down upon or made fun of because their vehicle is not up to societal standards. I work with the homeless in my community by bringing them meals in my hometown, and hearing their stories expresses a lot of what you were talking about: Uncontrollable circumstances. They are trying everything they can to get out of the motel, or off of the street, but are having a hard time finding the means to do that when [generalized] society as a whole feels that they did something to deserve to be there, or in that position. I think this essay proves a point: we need to stop judging people based on what they have and what they look like and start making judgments on them and their situation only after we have come to know the person they are. I am well aware that this is rather impossible to do in beauty pageants, I am merely saying that a lot of the ways we judge contestants in these pageants and other beauty contests is then transferred to how we "judge" people in everyday life...which is not how it should be.
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