In early October, Miss Texas, R’Bonney Gabriel, was crowned Miss USA 2022. She is the first Filipina American as well as first Asian American to win the Miss USA title. Now a 28-year-old model and fashion designer who owns a sustainable fashion label R’Bonney Nova, Gabriel was born in San Antonio, Texas, to a Filipino father and an American mother.
Gabriel has always embraced her mixed heritage. She told ABC News, “My dad moved to America from the Philippines on a college scholarship with about $20 in his pocket. He wanted to pave a new life for himself. He met my mom in Texas, who is a country woman from Beaumont. I’m a very proud Filipina Texan.”
During her Miss Texas interview, she wore a dress inspired by her Filipino ancestry and characterized by traditional Maria Clara Filipina collar shape sleeves. Wearing her design, she wrote on Instagram, “I feel at peace knowing I have put in the work to develop into the truest form of myself. I’ve learned the importance of embracing who I am.”
Following her crowning as Miss USA, Gabriel will now be preparing herself to win the Miss Universe pageant and hopes to encourage more Filipinos worldwide to champion their identity. She told Houston Life, “(Filipina girls and women) are crying tears of joy because they are inspired to go after pageantry or something. Like I’m paving the way for them to just go after whatever they want no matter what it is. So it’s an honor.”
Gabriel winning the Miss USA title as an Asian American woman is an incredible event for the wider AAPI community. However, does Gabriel being named Miss USA suggest that Asian American beauty and identity are now widely accepted in the U.S.?
In the past years, the U.S. has witnessed the rise of anti-Asian racism. Blaming Asians for causing the pandemic and using words like “China Virus” has continued to cause racial violence and discrimination against Asians. As a result, Asian Americans have been beaten and attacked. Asian stores destroyed and boycotted. Asian elders robbed and bullied. According to the activist organization Stop AAPI Hate, nearly 11,500 hate incidents have been reported to the organization during the last two years. While the number may only point to a fracture of reality, there is no doubt that the AAPI community is living in a time of fear.
For too long, the pain and fear of the AAPI community have remained invisible. The myth of the model minority depicting Asians and Pacific Islanders as the quiet, law abiding, and highly successful group has only made it harder for Asian voices to be heard and Asian struggles to be seen. Even though anti-Asian hate crime has increased by 339 % from 2020 to 2021, a LAAUNCH (Leading Asian Americans to Unite for Change) survey still shows that 37% of white Americans were unaware of the increase in hate crime. This suggests that the public either does not see the assault on Asian Americans or has turned a blind eye because they do not see Asian Americans as in need of support.
This trickles down to the lack of AAPI representation across the board.
According to a study by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, only 5.9 % of the 51,159 speaking characters from the mainstream film industry were AAPI, falling short of the 7.2 % of the U.S. census.
This is also reflected in LAAUNCH’s survey. More than half of Americans could not name any prominent Asian American public figure. Among the participants who did name a figure, many named Jackie Chan, who is not an American, or Bruce Lee, who passed away in the 70s.
More detrimentally, while most Americans think that Asians are fairly represented in leadership positions, Asian Americans are in fact the most politically underrepresented group. In the LAAUNCH survey, researchers show that Asian Americans only hold 3% of the positions of power and Americans are in general least comfortable with Asian Americans being authoritative figures. This means that Asian Americans’ concerns are often overlooked as a limited number of leaders could represent Asian experience.
All of the data presented shows that AAPIs are not being fairly represented in the media and that there is a lack of understanding and support for the community. Angelo, a Filipino-American engineer from Boston, reflected on Gabriel’s win:
“I am proud that we have a Filipino-American woman representing the United States as Miss USA. Certainly it’s an antiquated tradition that some might not perceive as progressive, but Filipinos and Filipino-Americans in this country have been marginalized and objectified for far too long. I’m glad my son can see himself in DC’s Captain Steel, the first Filipino superhero. In her own way, for 2022, Miss USA is a superhero, a progressive step forward of what I hope will be many for Filipino American women.” This commentator believes that R’Bonney Gabriel being crowned as Miss USA is undoubtedly a step forward in representing Asian Americans in the media. Her historical win is a statement saying that Asian Americans can represent America and that Asian beauty is now accepted. Hopefully, her presence as an Asian American in the media will inspire more aspiring underrepresented young adults to pursue their dreams. Nevertheless, the invisibility of Asian Americans still looms at large. The American public must be educated about Asian Americans’ experience, history and diversity.
