This week, KentOnline columnist Melissa Todd shares lessons from Sofia Mayers, England’s beauty queen competing in the Miss Earth championships…
I learned a good deal while chatting with Sofia Mayers, the Faversham-born beauty queen who’s representing England at the Miss Earth championships later this year. I learned that beauty pageants are still a thriving industry, with many hundreds taking place around the globe.
But also, I learned that cosmetics companies continue to experiment on dogs, right here in the UK.
It is this, rather than the bikinis, tiaras and applause, that encourages Sofia to compete.
“You can hear the dogs whimpering and squealing outside the research facility in Cambridgeshire,” she tells me.
“The smell is astonishing. They tend to use beagles because of their compliant nature.
“Dogs are factory farmed, forced to produce endless litters of puppies who are then packed into crates, forced to inhale pesticides and other toxic chemicals, before deliberately being given heart attacks, then killed. Around 4,300 experiments involving dogs are carried out each year…”
Petite but determined, righteous fury evident in her voice and stance, Sofia tells me more, much more than I want to know.
Having been blessed with beauty and talent, she has chosen to utilise both to create a platform from which she can yell about animal welfare.
In the UK, beauty pageants have largely faded into obscurity since the 1980s, plagued by criticisms of lack of diversity, and of perpetuating the notion that only appearances matter for women, so that those who don’t reach certain beauty standards are dismissed as worthless.
But in other parts of the world, particularly Southeast Asia, they remain immensely popular.
Six million people watched Sofia compete for Miss Grand International, and she was hounded for autographs at the airport.
She’s quick to dispel the notion that beauty pageants are anachronistic and offensive.
“There are pageants for men now, and for the trans community. Pageants for people who are older, curvier, more petite, or of different ethnicities.
“It’s about representing your country, taking pride in who you are – whatever that might be – developing confidence and showcasing your passions.
“It’s an incredibly supportive community. We are each other’s biggest champions.”
When she’s not competing, Sofia offers coaching to other young pageant hopefuls, focusing on poise, confidence and stagecraft.
Representing England in Miss Earth is no small task. The contest is considered one of the “Big Four” global pageants, and unlike many of its counterparts, its mission is rooted in environmentalism and activism.
Contestants are expected not just to look the part, but to advocate for sustainability, conservation and social change.
For Sofia, the causes are deeply personal. Her much-discussed talent performance saw her crawl from a cage and embody a terrified laboratory puppy.
It was harrowing, but unforgettable. “I knew it wasn’t what people expected,” she admits.
“But I wanted to use that moment to make them feel something. If even one person left the auditorium thinking differently about animal testing, it was worth it.”
Faversham may be a long way from the glitz of Manila or Bangkok, but it is home for Sofia, and she is quick to credit her roots.
“Growing up in Kent taught me to care about the environment. You can’t live surrounded by countryside and not notice how fragile it is.
“My mum runs an environmentally aware business here too.”
She smiles, suddenly less the international star and more the local girl next door.
“It keeps me grounded. No matter where I go, I’m still from Faversham.”
Win or lose, Sofia Mayers has already proved something: that pageants can evolve, and that a young woman from a small town can step onto a world stage and make millions of people listen.
“I know people roll their eyes at beauty contests,” she says.
“But if I can use mine to shine a light on cruelty, or on climate change, then it’s not about appearances at all. It’s about change.”
Sofia isn’t competing only for a crown. She’s competing for a cause.
