The Star: October 24, 2019

The Star Thursday October 24 2019
16
NEWS
• By Georgia O’Connor-
Harding
WHEN EMILY Sullivan was in
primary school she was ridiculed
for her looks and often asked out
by boys as a joke.
“I didn’t grow up with the most
friends – a lot of guys were mean
to me. Often it was just to get a
reaction and carried on into my
teenage years,” she said.
But now the 22-year-old is a
strong feminist who uses beauty
pageants to fight for women’s
autonomy over their bodies.
Looking back, the Wainoni
resident said while the bullying
hurt her, it has helped her develop
a thick skin and appreciation for
who she is. Her strong views and
confidence has seen her named
the New Zealand delegate for the
Miss Global Organisation. Sullivan,
a performer and Anytime
Fitness Rangiora personal trainer,
will travel to Mexico next year to
represent NZ at the international
beauty contest.
“I am so flipping excited,” she
said.
She was named the New Zealand
delegate on Saturday at the
Miss Five Crowns New Zealand
competition. She earned the title
after coming in the top 15 at the
World Supermodel Pageant in Fiji
earlier this year.
The competition raised $15,000
for Youthline.
Sullivan will need to raise
$2000 for her entry fee to the
competition in Mexico.
Having raised $3000 for Youthline
two years ago through her
beauty pageant work, Sullivan
described its work as “critical”,
particularly in light of the mental
health issues the city is dealing
with today.
She said “thousands and thousands”
of people called Youthline
following the March 15 attacks
and it is a “cornerstone” of the
community.
While beauty contests have
often come under fire for encouraging
women to measure their
self-worth through their physical
attributes, for Sullivan it is more
than a modelling competition.
She has used her platform to
discuss feminism and women’s
right to abortion.
“Often what people don’t realise
is it is a huge decision for women
to make. Women should have the
right to choose what they want to
do with their body.”
Last year, the 22-year-old
challenged National Party leader
Simon Bridges at a community
meeting in Taupo over why he
hadn’t taken abortion out of the
Crimes Act 1961.
While her challenge received
backlash, Sullivan does not regret
using her position to stand up for
what she believes in.
A National Academy of Singing
and Dramatic Art graduate,
Sullivan first got into beauty
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Using pageants to promote women’s rights
pageants two years ago to help
her with her stage confidence.
Never expecting her pageant
career to take off in her first
competition, she was named Miss
Five Crowns South Island two
years ago.
Sullivan believes the reason
beauty pageants often get a bad
name is because women are
sometimes sexualised and many
believe the contests encourage
anti-feminism.
She said the problem is
women will often get into beauty
pageants for the wrong reasons
and will get lost in physical
aspects of the competition rather
than using it as a platform to
discuss important issues.
“You have got to have
substance, you have to dig deep,”
she said.
While Sullivan’s views on
feminism have grown, small
issues such as being told she
couldn’t play bullrush because
she was girl “ignited a flame” in
her as a child.
But she said the issues she has
faced are minor compared to
what others experiences with
human trafficking and domestic
violence.
UPCOMING: Emily Sullivan
will represent New Zealand
next year in Mexico at the
Miss Global Organisation
beauty pageant.
PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN
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