Miss Universe Australia Maria Thattil spoke with Daily Mail Australia on racist abuse she endured as a contestant and how it shaped her work to promote diversity in the beauty pageant industry.
Thattil, who is Indian, said both her heritage and height subjected her to vitriol. She said detractors often labeled her as “not Australian enough,” highlighting social media as an avenue for such criticism.
One Instagram user commented, “I miss the days when Australia would send tall, white women to Miss Universe,” she recalled.
According to DESIBlitz, Thattil is one of the shortest contestants in Miss Universe history at 5’3″.
Thattil’s parents moved from India to Melbourne in the 1990s, the Daily Mail reported. As a young girl, Thattil watched the Miss Universe pageant with her mother but believed she would never make it to the competition.
“I never thought that modelling was something I could do because I didn’t have the ‘right look,'” she told the Daily Mail.
Instead, she followed in the footsteps of Priya Serrao, the previous Miss Australia and a fellow Indian-Australian, to represent her country at Miss Universe 2020 in May. As preparation, she ate low-calorie meals and exercised regularly, and she eventually finished in the top 10 of the competition.
However, Thattil also said she is done with beauty pageants. According to the Daily Mail, she is currently an Olay skincare ambassador and plans to enter the media and television industry.
Although she acknowledged that beauty pageants have reputations for being misogynistic , she said she plans to use her fame to promote change. She has called for more variety in body shape and size in addition to more transgender representation in the competition.
“My message has always been about promoting diversity,” Thattil told the Daily Mail, “and I’m going to use the platform Miss Universe gave me to do just that.”
She has already seen reform in the industry that may have resulted from her activism. Recently, Miss Universe Philippines removed its minimum height requirement for pageant hopefuls. She was “elated” by the change, according to the Daily Mail.
Thattil also noted many non-White Australians suffer a “cultural identity crisis” due to the country’s predominant Anglo culture. The country, she said, needs to do more to become an inclusive place for everyone.
“We need to have accurate representation everywhere, not just in sports or pageants, but in news, politics, business and decision-making spheres,” Thattil told the Daily Mail.
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