Beauty, Intelligence and Respect

I love Facebook. It is probably one of the attestations that the world has evolved into completely new paradigm socially, economically and politically. However, I cringe in disappointment whenever I encounter posts that hurl vicious words against an individual. Sadly, when it comes to intellectual discourse some people opt to stoop to the lowest level of character assassination and using spiteful words instead of addressing and discussing the real issues and suggesting solutions.

Maxine Medina’s rise to fame is glumly not just because she is representing the Philippines in the Miss Universe pageant but because of the circulation of her videos answering questions. Her beauty and confidence are clearly manifested the way she projects herself on camera. However, thousands of comments ruthlessly attacked the way she answered the questions. I understand. 

The beauty queen has distinctly a problem with expressing her thoughts in English. Nonetheless, stooping down to the level of insulting her complete being will never be justified. Calling her names does not address the real issue. It is not her problem that she won the title to represent the Philippines. Yes, she has the responsibilities to ensure that the country is well represented during the contest, but it should not come at the expense of insults and totally being disrespected in the process. Judging from what her coaches stated, she worked hard to improve. There were many beauty queens who won the title using their native language. Most importantly, you cannot judge a person’s intelligence solely on how she answers one or two questions orally.  

Some of us have become callous individuals who prey on the weakness of others. Let us bear in mind what Berg once said, “Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble.” Or in this case, to show respect.

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