68 Comp II Reflection 4 – “Reflecting on Promoting Safe Pageantry”
Tran Yennhi
Reflecting on Promoting Safe Pageantry
Safe pageantry is a subject that has been heavy on my heart since the suicide of Miss USA 2019, Chelsie Kryst, at the beginning of this year. I feel like this subject is so important when you look at how pageantry is viewed in the world. Pageantry affects so many young girls and women and has the capacity to either build stronger women or tear down their confidence. Because of this, creating different types of infographics to cater to young girls and all women to promote safe pageantry was important to me. I chose to do multiple infographics for different age groups and audiences. I chose to do this because I knew that one infographic wouldn’t draw the attention of all the different audiences in pageantry. I also figured that I would make multiple infographics that appealed to each different audience so that each audience would be more likely to reshare or post the infographic that resonated with their age group. Personally, I would likely not share a infographic unless it was aesthetically pleasing, which is why it was important to me to make different infographics tailored to the aesthetics of each demographic.
The first infographic I made was for moms wanting to sign their daughters up for pageants. I used the words “mom, mommy, mama, and mother” to grab the attention of moms. I used a picture of a woman holding a baby for an emotional appeal. I used a crown to symbolize pageants, which helped emphasize that this was about pageants. The font I selected for this post was used because I felt it was more mature and appropriate for moms. I included simple informational statements to keep the post short to ensure I could keep the reader’s attention. The information I included was specifically chosen to appeal more to a mom’s senses.
The second infographic I made was for girls competing in pageants ages nine through thirteen. I again used three informational statements to keep the post concise and maintain my audience’s attention. In this post, I added a pink crown to symbolize pageantry because I believe pink is a popular little girl color. Next, I added splattered paint to the pink background to make it more eye-catching for girls that age that might be into painting. I also added some sketch art and what looks like a notebook because I knew that would draw girls of that age’s attention because it resembles a diary. All of these visual choices are very age appropriate for girls nine through thirteen.
The third infographic I made was for girls competing in pageants who are ages fourteen to nineteen. I once again included three informational statements , but this time I added information that was more appropriate for their age and the more significant issues they might be dealing with. I chose a light purple background with pink squiggles because I knew that color scheme was more popular with the age group right now, so that it would be trendier for them to post or re-share. I also added a question and gave two options of response to encourage interaction in the comments. By making this post interactive, the audience for this post might feel more inclined to join the movement. I did this because I believe this age group is at the age where you start getting the freedom to make your own decisions. I know that older teenagers are the age group most at risk for potential harms like eating disorders and body image issues, and so they’re the age group most in need of safe pageantry.
The fourth infographic I made was for older women, between the ages of twenty and fifty, also competing in pageants. I chose a background of a woman’s silhouette to draw attention to the fact that post is made for women, and which could also draw more attention from other women. I also believe that women were more likely to repost this because of the brown background since brown is a trendy color right now. I chose a trendy cursive font to draw the reader in and put the font in bold to show that it is an important message at the same time. I included three informational statements once again because I figured nobody would want to read a long infographic, and three points seems to be the perfect number. My intention was to capture the audience’s attention and make them want to read a little more about it themselves. I also included specific information about the more important issues for adult women competing in pageantry at that age.
I’m glad I got to make multiple infographics and not just cater to one part of pageantry because these problems can affect girls and women at all ages. By adapting my argument for multiple audiences, this project helped me understand the multiple demographics involved in pageantry. My goal is to get the different girls in pageantry and the moms enrolling the little girls in pageantry to see the reasons why safe pageantry is important, and how the consequences of unsafe pageantry can affect all of us. I now know my efforts in this project will be persuasive to all girls and women in pageantry because I did my best to cater to each specific age group and demographic.
