Everybody needs to be a Navajo

Quite the controversial title, eh?

I made that dramatic statement when I talked to my sister a few weeks ago. I was on a Netflix documentary spree and I had just finished watching the film, The World Before Her. The synopsis on IMDB aptly describes the story of two divergent Indian women who represent polarized perspectives on the current and future existence of India:

Ruhi Singh is a small town girl with big city dreams. She sets off to Bombay to win the title of Miss India--a launching pad to fame and a surefire way to stand out in a country of 1.2 billion people. Just hours from the Miss India beauty boot camp is another training ground for girls--that of the Durga Vahini, a Hindu nationalist group exclusively for women. Here we meet Prachi Trivedi, a young, fearsome drill sergeant training Indian girls to fight against Western culture, Islam, and Christianity by any means necessary including violence. Gliding back and forth between the action of the two camps, the dreams and conflicts of India and young Indian women are laid bare--two opposing worlds aren't as far away from each other as they seem. -Written by Storyline Entertainment

This documentary was ... sobering. As a woman, it was heartbreaking to see these women fettered in different ways. One of the reviews on Netflix appropriately echoed my thoughts, "Ruhi tries to use her beauty as her ticket to a good future, which is understandable, but leaves a girl vulnerable to the possibility of a modern form of female exploitation. Prachi pursues Hindu nationalism to the point of militancy, and her indoctrination is no less chilling than that of young Muslims who seek identity and a sense of belonging to a group, who later may become terrorists."

So how does this relate to being Navajo? The reason I added this documentary to my Netflix list was because of the words "Western-style beauty pageants." Laugh if you must because I typically do when I write, hear, or say 'beauty pageants'. For as long as I can remember, my attitude for such fanfare was best reflected in this classic movie (Miss Congeniality): 

To my amusement, John Oliver further exposed the ridiculousness of the Miss America pageant in a lengthy, but brilliant piece of investigative work.

              

Upon watching the Oliver clip this morning, the comment I made to my sister weeks ago came back to me. I remembered my feelings after watching the documentary The World Before Her. I contrasted those thoughts to when I watched another documentary on Hulu titled Miss Navajo. 

For those unfamiliar with earlier blog posts, I am Navajo. I love my culture, which includes the language, the history, the land, and the people. I love the beautiful origin stories and I love the resiliency of the people as they faced, overcame, and persevered through tragedy. Among the many things that I love about being Navajo is the finer concept of beauty, which is based on a woman's thoughts and abilities. The pageant for Miss Navajo requires a young woman to exercise the brain. It is a contest that I can definitely rally around! My exclamation of "Everybody needs to be a Navajo" was said in frustration as I processed the spectrum of obstacles that women worldwide face. Navajo women are not exempt from the same emotional, mental, and physical abuse or scrutiny, BUT at least they are ahead of the curve when it comes to valuing a woman based on her intellect, skills, and vision. 

Miss Navajo Nation contestants, 2014
http://navajopeople.org/blog/miss-navajo-nation-pageant-2014/ 

Personally, I would not enter the competition because I relinquished the title of Little Miss Greasewood following my pre-school reign*, but I approve of it wholeheartedly. 

A young, peeved Xazmin (Greasewood, AZ)
 I was never happy when I had to wear a dress. 

An older, wiser Xazmin (Minneapolis, MN)
I dressed in full Navajo attire at a culture fair when I was a graduate student at the University of MN.

*I did not consent to participate when I was four years old. To this day, I am unaware of the criteria that secured my win. Methinks it was purely political.