Miss China Wen Xia Yu was recently crowned at the Miss World 2012 contest, and her triumph has met opposition from people who say the contest was biased towards the contestant from the host country.
On August 18, the 23-year-old woman beat 115 of the most beautiful women from around the world to take home the crown of Miss World’s 62nd edition after the finale, held at Ordos, in Inner Mongolia, China.
She was followed up by Miss Wales Sophie Mouldsand and Miss Australia Jessica Kahawaty, respectively.
However, in the wake of the grand finale there has been public outcry against the highest prize of the contest from people who are opposed to the contest’s results. Many people on big beauty analyzing websites such as Global Beauties, Missology and the contest’s official Facebook page criticized that the answers during Miss China’s Q and A session were not persuasive.
In explaining why she should win the Miss World title, Yu said, in Chinese: "When I was young I felt very lucky because so many people helped me, and I hope in the future I can help more children to feel lucky."
The fact that the Chinese beauty was the only contestant who didn’t give an answer in English also brought her more opponents.
Meanwhile, the Miss South Sudan and Miss India were praised for their answers, which were considered more intelligent.
Moreover, some people admitted that though Miss China is beautiful, her beauty was not the most outstanding of the night. Many expressed their surprise upon seeing Miss China crowned since they predicted that the winner would be Miss Jamaica, Miss Wales or Miss South Sudan.
Wen Xia Yu was even called less beautiful than Zhang Zilin, her countrywoman who was crowned as Miss World 2007, when the contest was also organized in China.
China has so far hosted Miss World six times, and Chinese contestants have always finished well. A survey featuring the topic “Can China win outside of China?” was even created on Missology, adding more fuel to the fire with 91% of participants choosing “No”, while only 1% said “Yes.”
A photo captured from the website Missology showing 91% participants choosing "No" for the topic "Can China win outside China?"
Some hardcore commentators, who said Miss World is unfair and only focuses on women’s exterior beauty and ignores the beauty inside them, have created several pages to call on people to boycott the pageant.
Not only viewers, but the pageant’s contestants also expressed their disappointment at the result. On Saturday, Miss Thailand posted a status on her official Facebook page at the pageant, and after reading the status, many fans expressed their thought that Miss Thailand aimed to talk about the inequity of the contest.
Photo featuring Miss Thailand's status on her Faceebook page.
For her part, Miss Vietnam Hoang My chose not to criticize Miss World 2012 and gave some compliments on Miss China’s personality.
“Vinchy (Miss China) is innocent and emotional, she’s never thought bad about anybody. I believe that her crown will shine and she can help many poor children with the triumph,” My wrote on her Facebook page.
“Let's love Vinchy, she will shine with the beauty inside,” she added.
Hoang My also posted a photo of her and Miss China on her facebook page