Gracie Hunt, daughter of the Kansas City Chiefs‘ owner, Clark Hunt, is a pageant-winning star but despite her success, the young woman hasn’t had it easy as she struggles to maintain her body image in a high-pressure world with a lot of scrutiny.
Hunt, at the age of 24, is a two-time Miss Texas Teen International winner whilst she also went on to become victorious in the Miss Kansas USA pageant in 2021 before going on to make the Top 16 in the Miss USA competition too.
The latter means she’s considered one of the most beautiful women in her state and in her nation, but the daughter of the Chiefs-owning billionaire still doesn’t find it easy to believe in herself as the blonde explained the pressure and comparisons with her rivals.
“When I competed in pageants,” Hunt wrote on Instagram. “I found it hard to not fall prey to the comparison trap – especially when it came to body image.
“I feel like oftentimes we all want to be or look like the thing we are not, not being grateful for what we are.
“Even focusing on a healthy & athletic approach to the swimsuit/fitness competition, it was challenging to not wish I could change parts of myself. As a woman, I believe it’s something all women struggle with to an extent at some point in our lives.”
Hunt turns to God
Body image battles are becoming a growing issue in the United States, with just 53% of people believing they feel “good” in their bodies and a further 51% say they feel pressured to look in a certain way.
Part of the reason is the prevalence of social media, putting average day-to-day people in the same circles as those who commit their lives to looking in a certain way or being blessed to posses socially-accepted conventions of body image.
So it’s a tough problem to manage, but Hunt confessed she managed to find her way around them by turning to religion and to God to begin to start to feel happy with who she is.
“There’s only one thing that I’ve found is safe to store my identity and that thing is my faith in Jesus Christ,” Hunt added. “Now the goal is simple: striving each day to become the strongest & most vibrant version of myself that God created me to be.”