The GDF pageant
Cultural Box
Stabroek News
February 17, 2007
Since permission to enter Camp Ayanganna and other local army bases must come from some authority it only seemed logical to descend upon the National Cultural Centre (NCC) on Friday last to witness female ranks of the army competing for a crown.
Certainly it was no beauty pageant and somehow that did not matter because what the women had to offer was a whole lot more interesting. For a change it was refreshing to know that those 15 courageous women were not on stage hoping to get the nod as the most striking woman in the line-up. Unfortunately for us and many of the seat fillers at the NCC that night we could not witness the women throw grenades, display a talent and endure a tough physical routine.
These things were all part of the competition but were held as separate events prior to the final showdown on Friday last; though it would have been very interesting to see those events unfolding on the tarmac of the NCC. Before we get into the pageant and how exciting some aspects of it were something to note: the women in the Guyana Defence Force have some of the best looking women as far as physique goes. The well-toned bodies of some of those women are enough to make you want to enlist right away.
"Sign me up and let the training begin," was one of the comments repeated when the women took to the stage in their swimwear. It would be misleading to say that every one of them had a body to die for. There were at least five in the line-up of 15 who looked as though they skipped training on a regular basis. But we are not knocking any of them because to stand in front of an audience at the NCC takes bravery. That bravery is multiplied times ten if a woman knows she is a likely candidate for a Slim Fast programme. There was not a single female on stage that night who looked as though she was not having fun and as long as they were enjoying it so were we.
The army must be commended for putting the idea together and actually executing it. The show was enjoyable but for some reason or the other the army decided that entertainment for the whole night had to come from inside its rank and file; something many people had problems with. The GDF Front Line Band plays well and could hold interest for about one performance. To have it playing over and over was a little too much. It would have been nice to see some other band or group do something along musical lines. That would have spiced things up a bit and avoided most of the yawning that went on while the band was doing its thing.But the band was not half as bad as the dancing duo the army recruited for the night to perform two ballroom dances. Ballroom dancing is not something many people appreciate it is one of those things that has a small following so to thrust it on a large audience on a night like that was risky. The performances were tiresome.
Without a doubt the night belonged to the women of the GDF. They were fun to watch and they came over as pretty regular. The saying about how much a uniform can do for a person could have been applied to several of the women. If we were to choose whether to keep the uniform or lose it for good we would strongly advocate for the uniforms to remain in several instances.
Because the women went through various other competitions in the lead-up to the pageant we had to judge them based on what they wore that night and how they sounded. After seeing the women in an opening dance, swimwear and evening wear the final five were selected. Based on what we saw that night the eventual winner, Woman Lance Corporal Ann Marks of the army's Medical Corps looked like she already had it.
Though petite in stature and outfitted in one of the poor gowns on display that evening she was stately and always smiling. She walked around with a demeanour which showed confidence and still had a bit of uncertainty in it.
She flashed a bright smile from the inception and it never left her face for the entire night. She was actually named Miss Best Smile.
But it was the thoughtful manner in which she handled the question that impressed; that and her expressiveness. She was the first to speak which always adds a bit of pressure but she never faltered. The women were all asked a redundant question which largely required them to say what the role of their unit in the army is and how they would like to see women fulfil those roles. It was a runaway question and could have given anyone the crown but Marks handled it better than any one else did.
We would love to be at another GDF pageant if there is one ever again.
thestabroekscene@yahoo.com