Venus and Shamcey: Women should be honored every day not only during Women’s Month

Shamcey Supsup-Lee —ARMIN P. ADINA

As the world celebrates Women’s Month this March, beauty queens Venus Raj and Shamcey Supsup-Lee assert that women should be feted every day of the year.

“Every day should be a celebration of humanity. When we celebrate, we respect people, we honor people,” Venus, 2010 Miss Universe fourth runnerup, told the Inquirer at the sidelines of the preliminary judging for the Mutia ti La Union pageant at Thunderbird Resort in San Fernando City last week.

Raj hosted the pageant’s coronation ceremonies, together with Billy Crawford and Robbie Domingo, at the Poro Point Baywalk in La Union’s capital city on Monday evening.

“Even in the family, we should honor family members, your mother, your sister, even your father even if it isn’t Father’s Day, and our mother even if it isn’t Mother’s Day,” she continued.

Shamcey, who sat in the pageant’s judging panel, agreed with her Binibining Pilipinas predecessor.

“It doesn’t matter where you are in life, even if you’re a stay-at-home mom, you should be celebrated,” said the 2011 Miss Universe third runnerup.

She added: “Sometimes we put so much pressure on women right now, as if you have to be everything. It doesn’t have to be like that. You have to celebrate every little thing that you do for your family.

Shamcey, now the national director of the newly-launched Miss Universe Philippines pageant, stressed the importance of learning how to respect and honor women at home.

“It all starts with the family. If the kids see that you respect women, it gets instilled in their values. When they grow up, they honor and respect women,” she explained.

Venus Raj —PHOTO COURTESY OF PROVINCIAL GOV’T OF LA UNION

The two queens also took the opportunity to honor their respective mothers when asked who they think deserves to wear a crown of her own.

“Knowing the things she went through in life, they’re just really hard. Thinking that her (mom’s) name is Esther, and Esther in the Bible is a courageous woman, who is a queen, I think she deserves a crown for that,” said Venus, who was raised by her single mother in Bato, Camarines Sur.

Her mother was able to send her to Bicol University, where she graduated with Latin honors. Venus has also completed her master’s degree at the University of the Philippines.

Shamcey cited her mother’s “determination” as the key to her ascendance as a beauty royalty.

She said her mother Marcie believed in her so much that she found the confidence to take part in a beauty pageant. “I wouldn’t have done anything beyond my wildest dreams if I didn’t have the support and the belief that my mom had in me,” Shamcey shared.

The architecture board topnotcher and magna cum laude graduate of the University of the Philippines said she hopes to have the same level of influence on her kids as her mother had on her.

“I want to inspire them to be the best that they can be, and to know that I am their No. 1 fan in whatever they do. And I would support them with whatever dreams they have in the future,” Shamcey said.

She also noted that it is a good time to be a woman in the Philippines right now, because “there are a lot of opportunities for us to showcase our skills, abilities.”

However, she also recognized that discrimination still takes place. “We see a lot of women who excel in different fields; they show that being a woman is not a hindrance to achieving what they want to do with their lives,” she observed.

Venus, for her part, shared a special Women’s Month message with those who “have insecurities,” and are alone and lonely.

“Always think that you are not alone, because that is the reality. I would always go back to the love that the Lord is giving us. He loves us regardless of our gender or our personality, or our physical appearance,” she said. INQ