Lessons From A Texas Teen Beauty Queen

Austinite Sophie Lewis is the USA National Miss Lone Star Teen 2021. Lewis started competing in pageants at the age of six. But she wanted to start much earlier. She says her mom held her back because they had seen the TLC reality show “Toddlers & Tiaras” and decided that type of pageantry wasn’t for them. But then, Lewis says her family started learning about the philosophy of USA National Miss.

“And we fell in love with it just because it was no make-up allowed, no fake teeth, no fake hair. There was an interview portion, so I got to talk one on one with each judge which, for me, it was just fun because I was six years-old. But my mom definitely saw some amazing life skills in there that I could take with me when I got older.”

“Most of the time, I do hear that I am a bit of a contradiction because when most people think of beauty pageants, they think of a beauty competition and then, they hear about me talking about female empowerment, and I love talking about Math and Science… and most people think it is contradictory. It really couldn’t be farther from that because of the things that pageantry really brings out within you.”

“I am super happy to be kind of a diverse representation for Texas. I know that beauty outwardly can be a construct. Growing up in pageants, I am surrounded by tons and tons of beautiful people all of the time. And one thing I have always learned, as cheesy as it sounds, is let that comfortability shine because that is what makes people gravitate towards you.”

Want to learn more about pageantry? Sophie Lewis’ TikTok handle is @sittingwithsophie.

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