Exclusive Interview With A Pageant Girl

We recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Wenli Jen, a girl with beauty and brains, who competed in the Miss Taiwan World pageant. She rocks a Bachelor's degree from UC Irvine, a Masters degree in Human Development & Pshychology from Harvard, AND she's finishing up her Doctorate in Education at USC. So what's this smarty pants' view on being in a beauty pageant? We wanted to find out! We asked her seven questions and here's what she had to say.

1. What is The Miss Taiwan World beauty pageant?

The Miss Taiwan World pageant is one of the many Asian American-oriented ones in Southern California. For this particular pageant, the mission of the Miss Taiwan USA Foundation is three-fold: To encourage Taiwanese participation and contribution to the society. To share Taiwanese heritage for the benefits of humanity. To promote a multitude of exchange between Taiwan and other countries.

2. Why did you want to participant in this event?

I joke that it's something I would want to do so that I could, at the very least, tell my grandkids that, "Grandma did something, see?" But in reality, it was a multitude of reasons to join the pageant. I saw this as an opportunity to not only live out my childhood dreams to be in a pageant, like many of the gorgeous women I saw on TV as a young girl, but also to share with others that there's more to beauty than the physical attributes. Having said that, I wanted to bring with me the education and experiences as a stronghold of my identity in order to showcase beauty as encompassing. I felt that participating in this gave me another avenue to impact a different set of people. In addition, my culture and heritage are important for me to share with others.

3. What was most challenging about this experience?

The most challenging experience was putting myself in an unfamiliar and vulnerable place where I may not be judged by my credentials, education, experience or compassion. Instead, I was judged largely on the physical attributes that I had little control over to change, minus the clothes and makeup of course. Moreover, I was judged on whether I grew up in a privileged household, which I was not. Knowing that having a privileged life gave me a better chance to place was something I had to accept as the social and political forces of reality. Many of the girls were thinner, taller, rich, and these comparisons contributed to my perspective about who I was and what I brought to the table. Though I may not be as thin, tall, or rich, I still persisted to remain confident. I trained myself to be at a place in my life where I challenged myself to be in these awkward and vulnerable times so that I could build a stronger character. It just reinforced the intangible and more valuable things that I had acquired in my lifetime.

4. What was your most memorable moment? Funniest?

The most memorable moment was walking on stage and hearing the cheers from my family and friends. I was able to see them waving and smiling past the bright stage lights, and the warm feeling was more than enough to show me that being loved is tremendously necessary in life. I savor the memory of the cheers and smiles because I really wanted to make them proud. I am honored to have had such support from family and friends.

5. Would you recommend that other young girls try out for an event like this?

Perhaps not to this particular pageant. I would encourage young girls to first find themselves by understanding their own strengths and weaknesses, and to develop a solid sense of identity that's rooted in true beauty--the kind that is not tainted by media, stereotypes and the like-- so that the pageant experience is much less invasive to a young woman's sense of worth. Overall, I think exploring different experiences, like a pageant, can help to develop young girls' confidence in many ways. Think like a winner!

6. We hear you'll be writing a tell-all book... wanna tell us a little about that?

After this experience, I really want to share with young girls, and even others, that the pageant life is quite a fascinating one. To endure the issues that surround the inner workings of a pageant foundation is a lesson to be learned about politics, money, and staying true to yourself. I hope that the book reaches out to many people who are influenced by media and society and think that beauty is dictated by a certain few with certain features. Underneath the skin, there is a whole lot that really shines through. You'll find that class, elegance, and grace are not bought. I really want to capture what it means to be an Asian American woman. I want to give people an insight on pursuing things and not regretting our choices to challenge ourselves.

7. Besides your book, what else do you have lined up in the future?

My primary goal at this time is to finish my dissertation and research to obtain my doctorate degree. While I work in prevention and also part-time as a counselor and consultant, I'm hoping to get more involved in professional organizations, some of which concentrate on the needs and issues of Asian Americans. Ultimately, I still would like to be an actress, or host for a show. I would totally take Mario Lopez's job on America's Best Dance Crew. Sorry, Mario!