I mean, it sounds innocuous enough on paper: Jacinta Lal, a 21-year old woman with a Fijian-Indian father and New Zealander mother, enters New Zealand’s Miss India pageant, Miss IndiaNZ. Oh, but she has blond hair and blue eyes. And she wins. And is promptly booed by spectators upon winning.
The organizer stands by his decision to allow Lal in the contest: “This event is called Miss IndiaNZ, with an N-Z, and I strongly emphasize that this event is not an Indian event, it is a Kiwi-Indian event, so you must have New Zealand residency, New Zealand citizenship and you must have some sort of Indian background.”
So, question to you, dear commenters: should this blonde, blue-eyed, girl with Indian heritage — but let’s be honest, completely white looking — been allowed to enter the Miss IndiaNZ project? And if so, what message does it say to us Asian Americans, when a white-looking girl takes on the standard of “Asian beauty” — and wins? Discuss in our comments!
