On Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022, life gave me an unexpected punch straight to the gut. Cheslie Kryst, former 2019 Miss USA and Miss North Carolina, committed suicide. At age 30, she was an influential civil rights lawyer, a successful correspondent for Extra, and a role model for so many young women around the world. She was intelligent. She was beautiful. She was driven. She was in pain. Behind her stunning curls and mile-long list of achievements, Cheslie was facing a battle that virtually no one knew. On January 30, she succeeded. She made one final post to Instagram with the caption "May this day bring you rest and peace," and at 7:15am, threw herself off of the 29th floor balcony of her luxury apartment building in Manhattan.
I never knew Cheslie personally, but many girls at High Point, including my best friend, did. Her actions have rocked so many of us who were affected by her influence, especially those within the pageantry community. While many of us search for answers, puzzled by her actions, we also work to allow her legacy to continue to thrive and to fight for greater transparency within the world of pageants.
I have never really paid much attention to the wording of headlines. I always thought they were just a couple of words bullshitted together for a quick attention grabber. As I take my first official journalism course this semester, I have looked more and more into the word choices of the media outlets that we so easily trust. With Cheslie being such an influential figure in society, the news of her death was devoured by the vulture-like journalists that were eager to break the story. Headline after headline reworked the event that had shocked the nation, each putting their own spin on what Cheslie had done. Quickly, I recognized a problem.
In order to understand what truly makes my blood boil about recent articles, we have to try to understand what Cheslie did and why she did it. While no clear note was left to give a full explanation of why she decided to leap from the building that Sunday morning, there is an article she wrote recently for Allure that puts a lot of her actions in perspective.
https://www.allure.com/story/cheslie-kryst-miss-usa-on-turning-30
In the article, she describes what turning 30 means to her and how reflecting on her life makes her question much of what she has done. She describes how toxic the pageant world can be and how she was left virtually empty in her pursuit to add another achievement to her resume. She also mentions her yearning to find a passion, something that she can put herself into, something she can be known for, something that can help to define her other than what she has accomplished.
Many within the world of pageantry are citing this article as her letter of goodbye. Some claim that these were her struggles put on paper. Sadly, her cry for help went unanswered. Her choice to take her own life was not just a resolution to her own pain, but also a purpose for Cheslie, the one for which she was so diligently searching: bringing light to mental health in pageantry.
In order to honor Cheslie, we have to tell it like it is. We have to be honest about what she did, or nothing will get better. Headlines, specifically from sites like the National News, The Sun, and even the Wall Street Journal are not doing this. They have chosen to use the word "fall" in their headlines to describe how Cheslie died.
When you use the word "fall" rather than jump, you take the intention out of the action. It becomes simply an accident. Cheslie's death was not an accident. If we treat it like one, if we call it a fall, if we take the intention out of the situation, the purpose of her death is lost. It is imperative that the news outlets do not confuse audiences with the situation. Cheslie was hurting for a reason. We cannot lose or distract ourselves from that reason because of a mixup of words. We have to call it as it is.
Cheslie was and is so incredibly loved. She was truly an inspiration and admired by so many. While her loss is one that many of us have not yet processed, it is one that will serve as a message to the world that we need change.
Rest in Power, Cheslie Kryst.
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