This Year’s Miss Puerto Rico Is From Florida, And People Are Angry

On Thursday, June 13th, a new Miss Universe Puerto Rico was crowned. But she’s from Florida. Her name is Madison Anderson and she’s a 23-year-old Orlando native, born to a Puerto Rican mother and an American father. On the night of the pageant, she won over the hearts of the crowd and beat out dozens of island beauties, becoming the first ever Floridian to win the title. And it’s easy to see why she won: she’s beautiful, charming, and talented, which is exactly what you’d expect from a beauty queen. But not everyone is happy that Anderson is the new Miss Universe Puerto Rico, and the reason goes deeper than you’d expect.

@_madisonuniverseMost Puerto Ricans take the Miss Universe Puerto Rico pageant very seriously, much more so than the average American does the Miss USA pageant. There are various cultural aspects that explain why the pageant is so important to people on the island, but, most likely, the number one reason is that we have won the Miss Universe crown five times, which ranks us third on the list of countries with the most winners right after Venezuela (seven) and the US (eight). In other words, we care about the local pageant because there’s a good chance that we’ll win the international one, so whenever a new Miss Puerto Rico is chosen, it’s kind of a big deal.

Now, if you’re wondering why people would be upset that Anderson won, when she is beautiful enough to win a sixth Miss Universe crown for Puerto Rico, you’re missing a big point. People are upset that she won because she’s not Puerto Rican, and the thing about being Miss Puerto Rico is that as soon as a new winner puts on the crown, she automatically becomes the epitome of Puerto Rican culture. She becomes a representative of the island’s women, known for their beauty, and all the great things that Puerto Rico has to offer. In other words, she becomes the island’s face to the world, so it’s important that she really represents us, that she looks and sounds like us, so that we can identify with her and root for her when she’s competing on the international stage. 

@_madisonuniverseSome people are saying that she is being criticized because she’s very blonde and she’s not what the “typical” Puerto Rican woman looks like, but the reality is that, despite the fact that we’re talking about a beauty pageant, Anderson’s looks aren’t the real problem here; most beauty queens from island look just like her, only with dark hair. So, the problem isn’t that she doesn’t look Puerto Rican enough; it’s that she isn’t Puerto Rican enough.

From an island perspective, the fact that her mother is Puerto Rican and that she was raised in the Puerto Rican community in Orlando doesn’t make her worthy of representing the island. Sure, her Florida looks don’t help, but the cultural aspect is the bigger problem. Oh, and her Spanish isn’t great either, so that makes it even harder for many Puerto Ricans to see her as being as Puerto Rican as them. 

@_madisonuniverseAs for Anderson herself, she’s stated that she feels very proud of her Puerto Rican heritage and that wearing the crown that represents the island is a dream come true. There’s no doubt that she’ll do a great job this year as Miss Universe Puerto Rico and that she’ll represent us proudly at the 2019 Miss Universe pageant, which will be held in South Korea. But for many Puerto Ricans, crowning Anderson was a mistake, and hopefully, next year, the new queen will be someone they can really see themselves in.

Cover picture: @muniversepr

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