There's something about Mary

Jin Cowan

Role model: Newly-crowned Miss Hutt Valley Mary Cooper wants to be a role model for young girls leaving school.

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New Miss Hutt Valley, Mary Cooper, hopes her win will boost the image of Hutt women.

The 22-year-old works as a hotel receptionist in Wellington and says not everybody has a positive view of local lasses.

"They (her Wellington workmates) think 'oh my God, Lower Hutt girls get pregnant very young and they all wear Ugg boots'. They make it seem like Lower Hutt girls have no ambition."

She says she is annoyed by the stereotype and one of her aims in entering the pageant was to be a positive role model.

"Girls who leave school need to have ambition to take them somewhere," she says.

Since leaving Sacred Heart College, Miss Cooper has entered a number of beauty pageants, including the recent Miss Filipino New Zealand competition.

Pageants can be really rewarding, as they boost girls' confidence and create opportunities, she says.

She believes she won the crown because of her professional approach and the way she spoke.

She's now looking forward to the Miss Universe New Zealand competition and the chance to represent her country.

Her win created some comment, as she was one of a number of girls with tattoos. Miss Cooper says the organisers were aware of her tattoos, which include a Playboy Bunny.

The tattoos were a "big mistake" and she regrets having them done.

"Everyone makes mistakes when they are young."

She covered them up for the pageant and intends to have them removed.

Miss Cooper's ambition in life is to become a hotel manager and work in a resort overseas.

"I want to be a female manager because there are not many of them."