From the Desk of Larry & Terry

The Power Of An Image…

Have you ever met someone only to discover that upon meeting them, they were nothing as you imagined, once you had a chance to know them? Then you look back to determine how you could have interpreted them to be of certain ways…  Some of the preconceived notion was due to information you perhaps gathered from others but somewhere along the way image (directly or indirectly) play its role in how you perceive others to be. Granted, an image may not project the true characteristics of a person or organization but image certainly suggests one’s characteristics. As fair as one thinks a perceived image to be, a not-so good image can make life a little more challenging… A “not-so-good” image  should not be confused with malicious rumors/gossip that always seems to have a presence because more often than not, such rumors when untrue die and later prove to be untrue, in which case image tends to not suffer. However, when repeated rumors and turmoil constantly surround someone, more often than not, there may be some truth to such rumors which usually produce a not-so-good image.

Image is created by and from many things such as:

·         How one dresses

·         One’s hairstyle

·         How one walks

·         How one speaks

·         What one laughs at

·         The car one drives

·         The house in which one lives

·         The photographs of oneself

·         The postings of public comments or responses to comments of others on social media

·         The postings/content on one’s social media outlet

·         How one behaves in public places

·         The quality of a promotional photograph

·         How one behaves in a not-so public environment

·         How publically reacts to a stressful circumstance

·         Those whom one often keep company

·         One’s entourage

·         One’s performance selections including music and apparel choices

·         How one responds/reacts to gossip and rumors

·         One’s relationship with family

You may ask, where does image and being Miss Gay America correlate? It relates in everyday life before, during and after the reign of a Miss Gay America titleholder.  To those whom we have coached in their efforts to become Miss Gay America, we always cover the aspect of image. We have always coached each newly crowned Miss Gay America that a good image plays a huge role in respect.  Sadly, a “not-so-good” image follows one through the reign and is an extremely difficult to improve. In fact,  if one has thoroughly prepared oneself to be Miss Gay America, we’d hope that the newly crowned Miss Gay America does not have to spend part of her reign trying to do image damage control. We have witnessed on many occasions, that sometimes titleholders (usually NOT forever Miss Gay America titleholders) do not get the respect that one would think that their title deserves and it is all because of a substandard image that distracts the respect of others.

Interesting enough, we recently has to search for photos of various qualified contestants so as to ensure that their photo was available for viewing on the Miss Gay America website and by browsing their various social medial pages in search of an acceptable photograph to publish to the web site,  we discovered that in some instances, there may be “not-so-good” character images as a result of various photographs, or postings/comments.

So we challenge all who want to become the next Miss Gay America, to remove one’s personality from the review process and thoroughly evaluate one’s image. Sometimes the public (fellow contestants, promoters, audience members and yes, even Judges) may form opinions based on a perception gathered from one’s image.

Image is defined as “a representation of the external form of a person or thing” and as we find more often than not, usually the perception of an image, especially the not-so-good images, are usually accurate.  

The reign of Miss Gay America is challenging enough without the need to repair the image during the reign. We want every newly crowned Miss Gay America to enjoy the experience from the time the crown is placed upon the head until the time it is relinquished, which is why we repeat what we always say and that is… “you’ve got to be IT, before your become IT”.

In summary, the image of a powerful thing. The image usually makes a statement before one walks into the room.  The image is difficult to improve and does not happen overnight. The image can be the key to opening the door of respect. The image can sometimes be the deciding factor especially in a “benefit of the doubt” situation. So again we ask that anyone who aspires to be the next Miss Gay America should evaluate their image to ensure that it is in good condition…

Until next time!

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