Every Filipino’s eyes were pretty much glued to their screens earlier this week to watch the Miss Universe competition. It comes as a great honor for the Philippines to get its fourth win, thanks to Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Elisa Gray.
She was already a queen from the start. Her preparation and level-headedness were definitely evident. And we won’t forget to mention just how stunning she looked in that Mayon Volcano-inspired dress by Mak Tumang.
Everybody is joyous with the victory, however, her answers to the questions seemed a little too problematic for some.
What people must remember is that it is possible to want more from Catriona and be her fan at the same time. Just because she won the competition doesn’t mean she is gets a free-pass from criticism—no one is.
Fans got annoyed at how other Filipinos seemed to look for more with her answers, but the fact is, to criticize is not to discredit. As she now holds a position wherein she is capable of actually acting upon her advocacies, we are allowed to expect more from her than just banal remarks.
Catriona’s answers in the competition have been widely criticized by many people online, saying that she has romanticized poverty and fails to recognize that it is a systemic issue.
“Working in some of the poorest areas of my country, I found that it was a lack of child support, not poverty, that killed their dreams. A child once told me, “Cat, that’s just not my life, and those dreams aren’t made for me.” But I stand here today because someone believed in me and we owe it to our children to believe in them,” Catriona shared.
With her opening statement, she says that it is not poverty that kills children’s dreams, but the lack of support for the children. Although she was very well-meaning, saying specifically that it’s not poverty that kills dreams isn’t exactly true.
The children’s families are very supportive of their dreams, but what they lack are the resources of actually chasing after it. There are always financial constraints to consider. It is, therefore, not the lack of child support that kills their dreams, but the lack of financial capabilities, which is, in other words, poverty.
Photo from Instagram / Catriona Gray
Saying that poor people remain poor because they don’t work hard enough is unfair. They can work 20 hours a day and still not earn enough to feed their families or let their children go to school. What most people got frustrated about was how she said that being grateful would not let negativity to prosper, as if positivity and gratefulness would bring families out of poverty. Her answer for the last question is where people said that she romanticized poverty.
“I work a lot in the slums of Tondo, Manila, and the life there is very poor and very sad. I’ve always taught myself to look for the beauty in it, to look for the beauty in the faces of the children, and to be grateful. I would bring this aspect as a Miss Universe to see situations with a silver lining, and to assess where I could give something, where I could provide something as a spokesperson. If I could teach also people to be grateful, we could have an amazing world where negativity could not grow and foster, and children would have a smile on their face. Thank you,” she said.
She has seen and been with lots of impoverished people in the Philippines, but saying that teaching people to be grateful would improve their lives would be kind of a stretch. You’ll often hear people go, “Look, they have nothing but they find reasons to be happy.” To admit that the statement is problematic doesn’t mean to undermine their happiness. Poverty is not just “living a simple life.” Hearing the struggles of the poor shouldn’t be “heartwarming” or “beautiful.” The more we look at poverty in a positive light, the more we feel less obliged to uproot it.
Photo from Twitter / Catriona Gray
She has the willingness and the drive to make a change and help millions of people, and that is very admirable of her. There’s a lot Catriona has to learn about societal issues—with answers that require more than Miss U’s time limit. But now that she has a platform to bring about a greater impact to the world, there’s nothing stoping her from inspiring others to do the same.
We know her heart is in the right place, and her reign as Miss Universe will surely make a difference in the world.
