Beauty contests began in the 1980’s, before women even had the right to vote. In that context, beauty contests made sense as one of the very few ways a woman could achieve any type of autonomy or empowerment. Pageants are a cog in the machine of a society that objectifies women’s bodies and undervalues their minds. But since a decade, beauty contests have degraded feminism and womanhood.
A beauty contest is a platform where women all over the globe compete for a pageant. Beauty pageants give women a platform to showcase their talent, helps them realize their inner self and confidence & to become more responsible because she has to also do a lot of social work. These contests may package themselves as a beneficial experience for their participants, but, ultimately, they feed into a much greater, much more destructive cultural framework that cyclically works to dehumanize women.
Make-up, hair extensions, teased hairstyles, clouds of hairspray, flippers (fake teeth), sophisticated costumes, screaming crowds, weird postures, twitched face expressions, tiaras, trophies, money and more or less talent are the ingredients for the usual beauty contests, along with exercised smiles and hysterical crying and outbursts. When the women parade themselves on stage, the judges will look at a number of things, but the most important criteria will probably be poise. To achieve proper poise, a woman’s body should be well proportioned – having a neck proportionate to her height, lanky legs and so on. The sponsors exploit women by requiring them to parade in swimsuits or even lingerie. Moreover, beauty contests project an unrealistically thin image of the ideal woman in the eyes of the public. This is just so not done.
Women are beautiful creation of God and they need not participate in beauty contests to get themselves appreciated in the eyes of public. These contests that blatantly objectify women, like that they boost self-esteem. But what is that self-esteem based on: Pride in oneself as a full human being, or as someone who possesses immense beauty in a global society where beauty is valued above all else? Modern definition of beauty contest has become only the physical beauty and projecting women as mere objects with makeup dabbed faces. It’s the projection that degrades womanhood & not the mode. So beauty contests should be encouraged and viewed positively.
-Tanvi Shah
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