Modern beauty contests started in the United States of America in 1880 with the first Miss United States bathing beauty contest held at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Since then, beauty pageants had been popular in many parts of the world. Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss International, participated in every year by more than fifty countries, ceaselessly attracts huge audiences and supporters. The biggest, the Miss World competition, had been running annually since 1951, and although it is less popular in the UK now than it was in 1968, when it attracted 27.5 million TV viewers, it still attracts an enormous worldwide audience of up to 3 billion viewers in 120 countries. [1] Although the main purpose of these pageants are to empower women, the crowned winners are also traveling around the world in order to support causes like HIV/AIDS and children's charity organizations. [2] Due to the success of these internationally produced pageants, various beauty contests for different classes of age, sex and sexuality stemmed up. However, even with the huge diversity, the content of each pageants have almost always been the same: all of them are comprised of the mainstream categories like swimwear portion and evening gown portion. With these content, beauty pageants gives out strong messages regarding what the ideal type of woman is, hence undermining the purpose of a beauty pageant: to empower women. Thus, although beauty pageants contribute to the entertainment of the masses, it promotes an ideal of female beauty that only a minority of women can realistically aspire, objectifies women, further advances cultural insensitivity among its candidates and uses up too much resources which is why it should be banned.
Beauty, often defined as ...
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[5] http://www.missamerica.org/scholarships/purpose.aspx
[6] http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/09/nyregion/09pageant.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0
[7] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hilary-levey/miss-america_b_834578.html
[8] http://www.missworld.com/BeautywithPurpose/
[9] http://www.beautywithapurpose.com/
[10] http://www.france24.com/en/20130918-french-senate-votes-ban-sexualised-child-beauty-pageants/
[11] http://www.tpmum.com/alicia.html
[12] http://stcommunities.straitstimes.com/tv/2012/12/21/miss-universe-pigs-out-post-win
[13] http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/517029/20131026/miss-universe-pageant-more-beauty-contest-purpose.htm#.UtvGXhDfrIU
[14] http://www.anad.org/get-information/about-eating-disorders/eating-disorders-statistics/
[15] http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/10/26/2009102600798.html
Since the Miss America Pageant was established in 1921, conceptions of the beauty of American women have been based, in part, on the winner of this pageant. Sarah Banet-Weiser writes in her book, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, that “the woman selected as Miss America apparently 'represents' the nation” (Banet-Weiser 56). As a result of representing the American nation, the winner of the Miss America pageant is looked up to as a model for style and beauty among women. Since its inception, the Miss America pageant has come under attack from feminist organizations for exploiting women's bodies despite the fact that it is a scholarship program; the pageant rewards contestants a scholarship for continuing education based on their responses in the interview and the talent portions of the pageant as well as their performance in the swimsuit competition. A beauty pageant, such as the Miss USA pageant, is strictly concerned with a woman's outer beauty and does not include the talent or interview portions.
...as Miss USA and Miss Universe are competitions intended for mature, self-assured women who are capable of making their own decisions. Child beauty pageants, however, ruin childhoods and force them to grow up believing in their looks, rather than in themselves. It is no surprise, that emotional distress plagues the contestants that participate in beauty long after stepping off of the stage; subjecting young girls of any age to judgment and ridicule is not only humiliating but horrific to think that we are sitting back being entertained by their competitive nature. Rather than raising strong, confident girls who want to achieve the best in life; the parents and the hosts of these competitions provide a platform on which little girls are dressed up as skimpy Barbie dolls and paraded around, trying to achieve some form of perfection that shouldn’t exist in little girls.
She grabs the foundation and smothers her face with it; she creates a mask. She sprays the hairspray till the fumes clog the air. She squeezes into her bejeweled dress and puts on her heels. She transforms into someone who is unrecognizable, and fake. This is a little girl. The process of preparing for a beauty pageant is very demanding and stressful while little girls spend hours training and getting ready for their appearance on stage. Weeks are spent choreographing their dance routines and thousands of dollars are spent on, “glitzy” dresses, fake teeth, and spray tans. As long as beauty pageants for girls under the age of 16 continue, there will be an increase in mental and physical issues, an increase in the objectification of women, and there will be negative impacts for little girls.
It is 6:00 a.m. on Friday morning, and Sharon is about to awaken her eighteen month old baby, Jessica, to prepare her for a long weekend of make-up, hairspray, and gowns. Jessica is one of the thousands of babies forced into the many children's beauty pageants each year. Sharon is among the many over-demanding parents who pressure their young and innocent children into beauty pageants each year and this is wrong.
Lights, camera, pouty lips welcome to the four dimensional world of children 's beauty pageants. Over the years, child pageants have become a hot topic gaining a great deal of delight from numerous people around the world. From having a strong standing, ongoing fan base that keeps the hit TLC TV show Toddlers and Tiaras; on air to having some of Americans ' favorite beauty queens making guest appearances on shows such as the Ellen Show. Regretfully, the idea of putting an end to child pageants has become somewhat of a hotter topic than the pageants themselves. People often put down what they do not understand why dress a child like that? Why all the make-up? What some do not seem to understand is that there are advantages to being a beauty
It was the day after Christmas in 1996 when 6 year old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was murdered, she was found with a skull fracture and there was evidence of sexual molestation. The investigation is still unsolved and ongoing but it is thought that her prominence in the local pageant circuit made her an obvious target for child predators (Bio., 2011). Child beauty pageants are pageants in which the contestants are under the age of 16, many of the participants start performing when they’re as young as a few months old and continue doing pageants until adulthood. Underage beauty pageants have been around for over 50 years, and have now become a common hobby and are most commonly found in the South. While these competitions have gained popularity
American’s unneeded celebration of beauty in the pageantry world is digging a hole for the country and has been the contributing factor to the downward spiral we are presently in. The system of this pageant needs to change tremendously in order for it to become a beneficial contest in the future. Beauty pageants to...
Besides the attractive women in half-naked outfits, what does the Miss America Beauty Pageant really represent? This pageant lowers the self-esteem of women who don’t feel like they meet the standards of what society thinks is a beautiful woman. The pageant alone requires contestants to spend a huge amount of money. The message that this pageant is sending is that all women should compete against each other. The Miss America pageant gains millions of viewers, but people fail to notice the population of women who are not happy with themselves. This pageant has many issues regarding women’s image and the definition of beauty that people need to pay attention to.
Beauty pageants demand that competitors spend large amounts of money in synthetic enhancement. This is a poor focus for vulnerable girls and destroys the girls at a very young age. Beauty pageants convince girls that outer beauty is more important than inner beauty, which is totally a false claim. In this paper, we are going to talk about the pros and cons, whys and woes of pageants and if they are manipulative or valuable to kids. Even though that beauty pageants are a good way for girls to make friends. Beauty pageants are harmful to young children and they should not be able to compete until adulthood because beauty pageants teach kids that outer beauty is more important than inner beauty and beauty pageants pose a threat to the safety of children.
“Origin of beauty pageants was traced back from ancient European custom of choosing symbolic kings and queens for Mayday festivities.” (Sones). Before beauty pageants received less attention in the society but not until in 1991 when it captures almost everyone's attention. “Beauty pageants became more prominent in the society in 1921 when a hotel owner started a contest to attract tourist in town past Labor Day. The winner of that contest was the called Miss America.” (Beirnet). Since then major beauty pageants were born; Miss World (1951), Miss Universe (1952), Miss International (1960), and Miss Earth (2001).
Beauty pageants have long been a form of entertainment, exhibiting beautiful women with ideal bodies competing with their talent and their looks. Many pageant moms involve their daughters in children’s pageants to help them improve their social skills, exercise their talents, and boost their self-esteem. Although the pageants may seem like harmless competition with benefits, research shows that they may be doing the young beauty queens more harm than good. “...the girls are receiving conflicting messages: In order to win, the girls must show a unique personality, but they must also act and dress in a hyper feminine manner and conform to the pageant world 's ideal standard of beauty and narrow set of conventions.” (University of Kansas,
Cromie, William J. “The Whys and Woes of Beauty Pageants.” News.harvard.edu. 2000-2014. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
They also promote a bigotry standard of a women’s appearance and behavior. Contestants also have a higher chance of developing depression, anorexia, low self-esteem, or an egotistical persona. Prestigious, popular organizations of these competitions, are essentially moneymaking machines provoked by female insecurity and appeasement. In addition to this, these programs have also encouraged the rise of child beauty pageants; ruining a child’s, especially a girl’s, perspective of one’s self-value. Pageants may overshadow these shallow conceptions with scholarships, fame, and development of public speaking and character. Instead, they block society from learning that self-confidence comes from within not from the outer appearance. Beauty pageants are still a major part of society that influences the objectification of women’s bodies and dismisses the appraisal of a women 's intellect as irrelevant. Through the years, they have tried to conform to modern times, yet the appraisal of confidence from outer appearance is still apparent. This is arrayed by the swimsuit category and long hours of makeup prep time. Only time will tell, when this old-fashioned business ploy will cease to exist, and a women’s role isn’t just wearing a bikini in high heels for all men to salivate
The history of pageants has dated back to the 1920s, when the first Miss America, Margaret Gorman, was crowned. According to research, The United States has traced back its roots of pageantry where it even dates back when the Women’s Liberation and Civil Rights Movement started. In the early 1920s, also known as the “Roaring Twenties,” women did not have any rights in the United States. Society during this time saw women having the role of being married and staying at home while taking care of their kids and tending to their homely duties. Women in the 1920s were in the process of fighting for their right to vote as well as having equal rights in America and being able to work in the workforce. On August 18, 1920, the change for women’s rights had just begun, the 19th amendment passed by congress granted women the right to vote in the United States. The labor force for women was beginning to change as well. Women were once seen having the role of “feminine” jobs. Society saw women taking jobs like nursing and teaching. Men did not like the fact that the w...
Can anyone actually justify judging someone by their physical appearance? Although parents enjoy seeing their little girls in the spotlight all dolled up, most children don’t enjoy the pageant experience as much as the parents, and this vicarious living is dangerous, and the pageants have the capability of exploiting the children. Beauty pageants have a background of treating women disrespectfully and as if they are not equal. Women’s bodies are seen as objects of beauty as if we are just here to parade around for others. Today’s pageants are still set up in the same direction even for the youngest contests. They are dressed up to look like adults and sometimes dressed provocative. “Beauty pageants are a reflection of a culture in which women are not equal. Women’s bodies are not their own but are seen as objects of beauty for others.” (Nasso).