A gran-of-five who has been taking part in beauty pageants for over 50 years has described how they make her feel “empowered”.
Jayne Alison entered her very first competition when she was just three-years-old and she hasn’t stopped since.
The 54-year-old from Manchester has taken home many titles over the years, including Classic Regency International, Mrs Commonwealth International, runner up Mrs Universe and Classic Diamond UK.
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But she believes there’s much more to the competitions than winning – saying they’re all about empowering the women who take part.
“I have a few wobbly bits, I’m not perfect,” Jayne told the Manchester Evening News. “Who is?”
“But they just make you feel so empowered – especially going on stage in a swimsuit.
“It’s not a case of, ‘Look at me,’ it’s a case of, ‘I’m here and I’m proud’. If we can give that type of empowerment to other people, it doesn’t matter if you’re not perfect.
“It doesn't matter what size or shape you are. It’s an empowerment thing.”
Jayne has four daughters who have all taken part in pageants over the years – even competing against one of them in Miss Great Britain. At 16 and 45, the pair were the youngest and oldest in the competition and the first mother-daughter duo to compete together.
“We didn’t look at it as competing against each other,” Jayne added. “We were keeping each other company and enjoying ourselves. We were roommates. There was never any negativity from it; it was all positive. It was nice I could do something with her.
“There’s so much good done from pageants – they’re not just walking onto a stage and looking pretty. It’s what’s behind the scenes.
“I’m part of an organisation called Streets where we help the homeless. We raise funds and put things in place for them. Pageants have gone from being image-based to being about the community.”
Jayne says one of the best parts about taking part in pageants is the life-long friends made along the way.
“We’re very supportive of one another,” she said. “We don’t look at it as competing against one another.
“I’ve got life-long friends from pageants from all over the world. I’m still in contact with some of them after 20 years.”
When the mum isn’t on the stage, she’s judging or running her pageant mentor programme, offering free coaching to beauty queen hopefuls.
But the mum says she still gets the odd negative comment when people learn about her hobby. “I’ve had a few comments,” she said. “I do get the usual – asking why I compete and that it’s degrading to women.”
“You’ve just got to try and show them, from your point of view, exactly what pageants mean to you and other people and what you gain from them.
“I was bullied at school for a while and I’ve had relationships where I’ve been through violence. It’s helped me because I’ve had that support from my friends in the community who have helped me overcome a lot of things and stood by me.
“I would love anyone to try pageants because we do get a bad reputation because people see the bad stereotype.
“We’ve got away from that – they’re not beauty contests anymore, they’re pageants.
“When I’m judging, I’m not looking for the prettiest. I’m looking for the confident and empowered person who is up there making me smile.”
