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It’s 4 o’clock on a June afternoon and beauty pageant hopeful James Reggie Vidal is famished and parched. The 20-year-old Filipino hasn’t eaten a full meal since yesterday and won’t allow himself a sip of water until later tonight.
As well, he was up until midnight last night at a pageant event and was in the gym by 5.30am today to stay “pageant fit”.
“[For] the past six months, I’ve been doing strength training and circuit training six days a week and also dieting. In the first two months, I was bulking up to 85kgs. But over the last three months, I’ve been leaning and have cut down to 75kgs,” James tells SBS Dateline.
“The diet kills me so much. Hunger strikes, especially in the evening. Just to cope with it I scroll social media and watch movies.” It’s not a method health professionals would advise.
When preparing for a pageant, James follows an intensive fitness routine and a strict diet. Credit: SBS Dateline
James is stretching his mind and body to extremes because he’s in the thick of a two-week international beauty pageant called Man of the World taking place in Makati, the financial hub of the Philippines.
In a few hours, he’ll be one of 40 contestants from across Asia, Europe, Africa and North America strutting their stuff on stage in tight-fitting swimwear to be judged on their looks, physique, stagecraft, personality and body confidence.
For the winner, there are promises of fame and fortune, including thousands of dollars in prize money, sponsorships and modelling work.
Male beauty pageants in the Philippines
Beauty pageants for women and men are hugely popular in the Philippines despite controversies surrounding them such as allegations of sexual harassment, indecent proposals, and use of steroids. Contests run in schools and villages all the way up to the national and international levels and amass large fan bases.
“The pageants for men are slowly growing, but I can feel the gap with the women,” James says.
Man of the World is one of the major international male beauty pageants that has been held in the Philippines since 2017. It sells itself as being just as much about brains as about brawn. It combines swimwear, national costume and formal wear competitions with intelligence tests and an emphasis on advocacy.
Contestants are also assessed on personality and attitude when they’re not on stage, such as during team bonding events, charity day outings and even downtime at the hotel.
James speaks on stage during the coronation night of the Man of the World international pageant. Over the course of two weeks, 40 contestants from across Asia, Africa, and Europe have been whittled down to 10 finalists. Credit: SBS Dateline
James advocates the importance of education for young people, even though he’s put his own studies on hold to compete.
“When I ask God, ‘Is this going to be worth it?’, I realise that moments like this come only once. And some people who dream of being a pageant king or being in a pageant don’t get the chance. So I’m so thankful and proud to be here today.”
It all culminates in a coronation night event when the 40 contestants are whittled down over a series of cut-throat on-stage challenges.
Body image issues
James entered his first contest when he was in high school. He finished second runner-up. That was where he was discovered by an agent.
To reach the Man of the World, James had to advance through the domestic pageant circuit.
But it hasn’t always been easy for him.
As a child, he used to be overweight, he says, and experienced bullying and body shaming because of his weight, which had a negative impact on his mental health.
“I got depressed because of the body shaming. A lot of people were teasing me and on social media, they’d be calling me different kinds of names, like ‘tambok’ (fat) and ‘tabachoy’ (chubby).”
As a child, James was bullied for being fat. He says he still hasn’t gotten rid of those insecurities and is afraid to gain weight. Credit: SBS Dateline
James’ experiences as a young boy reinforced the lesson that true beauty was on the inside, and that substance and character were more important than appearance.
“To be a man with beauty, you need to be lovable, understanding and respectful. To have great discipline, responsibility and to be a good leader,” he says.
Still, those scars remain today and play a role in his pageant regime.
“I’m afraid to be fat again,” he says. “It really affects me, in my psychology. It will never be gone.”
Unrealistic standards and colonial notions of beauty
Throughout his journey, James also had to confront what he calls a bias towards colonial notions of beauty in the Philippines.
He says organisers of various pageants set standards on contenders’ physical appearance, which are often unattainable for Filipinos, such as being tall, having fair skin and a straight nose. Negative comments on social media add to the problem.
“Last year when I was in the Mister Pilipinas pageant, somebody said I was so black. Because in the Philippines, ‘moreno’ is a thing,” says James, using a local word referring to a Filipino with a dark complexion.
Since he entered beauty pageantry, James has received negative comments on social media about the dark tone of his skin and ‘a Filipino nose.’ Credit: SBS Dateline
Historically, these people have faced colourism and disadvantage in the country. It’s estimated half of all Filipina women have succumbed to aggressive marketing and used skin-whitening products at least once in their life. And, in part, it’s helped fuel a booming skin whitening industry worth billions.
James says he’s also been criticised for having a typical Filipino nose and says the preference is for a more pointed European nose with a high bridge.
Across the Philippines, the cosmetic surgery industry is booming. And it’s not just nose shapes that are changed. The so-called ‘Asian eyelid surgery’, known as blepharoplasty, is also common. It creates or enhances an upper eyelid to make the eyes look larger and more European.
I ask James if there’s an inherent contradiction between the lessons from his childhood – that true beauty is on the inside – and the reality of his adult life as a swimwear-clad model.
“I think there’s no contradiction. Again, beauty and brains, so it must be 50/50,” he says. “It doesn’t work if you have this beauty, like 90 per cent, and you only got 10 per cent brains. You have a chance to win, but it’s hard, so it must be equal.”
Readers seeking support for body image concerns can contact Butterfly Foundation on 1800 33 4673. More information is available at
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