Queens in Zines, They grew until they were the most beautiful dutch girl (part 1)

Story magazine, 19
april 20, 1995

This is an article about beauty queens from the Netherlands and how they looked like when they were just a child. We start with:

Yoshka Bon, Miss Netherlands 1994:
“In the Netherlands you are not a prisoner of your title”

“I had absolutely no expectations of what it would be like if I became Miss Netherlands,” says Yoshka Bon (20) from the North Holland town of Wognum, half a year after that one moment that radically changed her life. “One moment she’s still sitting in sweatpants on a school bench, and the next she’s standing in front of an audience of millions on the theater stage in Sun City, South Africa, wearing a beautiful evening gown.” Yoshka just misses out on finishing in the top ten. In between, she also briefly meets Nelson Mandela.

By now, half a year later, the pretty girl from Wognum has a fairly clear idea of the impact the pageant has had on her young life. Instead of school desks, homework, and a future in the clothing industry, Yoshka’s education has been put on the back burner.“I stopped going to school for a year. Next year I’ll simply continue with the HTS fashion program I was doing. A title like this and school don’t go well together—I kept missing exams.”

Her relationship with her boyfriend at the time, Robert, also came under pressure. “But that had nothing to do with my title,” says Yoshka. “That was separate from everything. Even before my election, things weren’t going that well.” In an earlier interview, the girl from Wognum said: “Actually, our relationship is still very innocent. But we do believe in it.”
How things would have gone without the title will always remain a question. Yoshka isn’t really that concerned anymore with the fact that she is now Miss Netherlands. “As Miss, I regularly do promotional work at fairs and other assignments that come your way. But I’m still just the same person. Fortunately, in the Netherlands—unlike in many other countries—you’re not a prisoner of your title. I can simply continue living the life I had. But you do gain a lot of contacts. All in all, I would do exactly the same again if I could relive the past year.”