By Thi-Le Vo
Northwest Asian Weekly
Mrs. Bellevue 2009 Christine Nguyen Lynn. Photo provided by the Mrs. Washington pageant.
On May 24, Christine Nguyen Lynn, who is the current Mrs. Bellevue 2009, competed for the title of Mrs. Washington 2009 at Moses Lake High School. Lynn was the only Asian American contestant in this year’s pageant.
To her knowledge, there has never been a Vietnamese American contestant in the Mrs. Washington pageant. In addition to being a beauty queen, she is a substitute teacher and a mentor for the Children of Promise Organization, an organization that matches up mentors with children whose parents have been incarcerated.
Many people are not aware of the ‘missus’ pageants because they are not as popular and are overshadowed by the ‘miss’ pageants. According to Lynn, the biggest difference between the missus and miss pageant is that “in the miss pageants, the girls are still trying to figure out their lives. As married women, we have accomplished so much and [have] become more experienced.”
Coming from a Vietnamese upbringing, Lynn admits that when she was younger, it was difficult for her to break away from being timid because decisions were constantly being made for her. When she attended college, things began to change.
“I am more independent [now]. When you were younger, you would never question things because things were decided for you. Now that I’m older, I can break away from that. In Asian culture, especially for wives, [people] are set in a situation where they only take care of kids,” Lynn said. She strove to break away from the mould.
When asked how she felt being the only Asian American in the Mrs. Washington pageant, Lynn said, “It’s great, but it’s a double edged sword. If I’m great at something, then it makes you more noticeable, but then if I mess up, it doesn’t work in your favor.”
In addition, Lynn believes that the biggest challenge she faces, as an Asian American contestant, is overcoming her shyness.
“A lot of Caucasians are outgoing,” said Lynn. “In comparison, I had to learn how to break through my shyness.”
However, Lynn believes that she doesn’t have to assimilate in order to fit in with the other contestants because they are open-minded. “You don’t feel like you have to be different — you’re comfortable with being yourself,” Lynn said. “It becomes a sisterhood. It’s more of a community thing where we all try to support each other.”
Mrs. Washington 2009 Elizabeth Larsen with Mrs. Bellevue 2009 Christine Nguyen Lynn. Photo provided by Christine Lynn Nguyen.
In many other pageants, stereotypes commonly appear. However, in Lynn’s point of view, she doesn’t face any negative stereotypes against Asians because it is a “more mature” atmosphere.
Lynn believes that Asian Americans are generally not represented in pageants, outside of the cultural pageants, because “it’s much harder for an Asian American to break into. Asians are probably scared. When you compare an Asian and a Caucasian American, it’s different.” According to her, there are different perceptions with the two because Americans are not used to seeing Asian Americans on television or in pageants.
Although Lynn did not win the title of Mrs. Washington this year, she did win an award for her volunteer work.
“This was a wonderful experience in terms of growing, learning about myself and others, and meeting and making new friends,” Lynn said. ♦
Thi-Le Vo can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
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Great story on Christine!!!
It was a an okay article and yes, the writer did take what I said and made it sound stereotypical.
I wished it had not been that way. But none the less, my goal was to simply say that there are both good and bad of any culture. But to really be successful and live in a diverse world you must learn to take the best any culture, leave the bad, learn about other cultures and people. And at the same time not forgetting your roots. Take what you have learned and give back to your community whether locally or globally.
This was an interesting article which made valid points concerning Asian American representation in the public eye. Congratulations to Christine Lynn for taking part and winning an award, even if she didn’t win the pageant. She seems to have a strong sense of self-awareness and self-respect, and that is rare among people of any culture.
However, with the understanding that “Asian” cultures and “Western” cultures have differences, I still winced when I read the stereotypes implied in this article. Unmarried women aren’t all trying to figure out their lives and “a lot” of Caucasians aren’t more outgoing than Asian Americans. Clearly that is not what she meant, but that is what the statements imply, and I think those statements/beliefs should be further analyzed in this age when many Asians and Asian-Americans are trying to walk the line between keeping a like-cultured community and integrating into the global community.