So What’s The Deal With Beauty Pageants?
My experience with Miss USA
Beauty pageants have been around for decades and decades. The very first Miss USA pageant was held in 1952 in Long Beach, California. This is where the first Miss USA, Jackie Loughery, of New York was crowned. These pageants gave the lucky crowned girls a chance in the spotlight to express not only their outer beauty but also their deep inner beauty and the chance, as women, to express their ideas to the world. Loughrey went on to compete in the first ever Miss Universe competition that year in the same place to achieve ninth place. As great as the crown and sash may feel, there is also major criticism of beauty pageants that takes place world wide.
Pageant Criticism
You don’t have to look very far to find negative criticism on pageants. There are many ngative stereotypes directed at pagaent girls. The dumb stereotype is most common, as portrayed in the 2000 movie Miss Congeniality starring Sandra Bullock. In this movie the pageant girls, such as this one in the interview, are seen as stupid and ditzy. The interview part of pageants consists of the contestant answering a few questions on stage written by the judges. The contestant is judged on if the answers are thoughtful and unique. This is the portion where a lot of the dumb stereotypes stem from. I mean it’s hard to forget Miss South Carolina’s interview in the 2007 Miss USA competition. If you have not seen the cringe worthy video, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww. Now as funny as this can be, the poor girl was probably a nervous wreck. I know if I was standing in front of thousands of people with all eyes on me, all lights on me, and all national televised cameras on me, I couldn’t say I wouldn’t choke. A lot of pressure is put on these young women to say the right thing. But what necessarily is the right thing to say when there are so many opinions floating around in the audience, someone is bound to get offended. This stems from the Myside Bias from Ken Bain’s “What the Best College Students Do.” Bain explains, “If I gave you statements by politicians who contradicted themselves, for example, research suggests you’d easily spot those hypocrites — as long as they come from a party you don’t support.” People only tend to think from their own perspective and do not open up to other opinions easily. This is why these women get hated on for expressing their own beliefs. When I competed in the Miss Teen New Hampshire USA pageant I was instructed to not be too bias in my answer, or not to take just one side because of these overwhelming range of opinions. It’s hard to express your real opinion, or even develop a rational thought when you have to critique your answer to agree with both sides of the argument to prevent “offending” anyone. Now imagine doing that in front of a crowd.
Sexualizing Women?
If you have not taken a peek at TLC’s show Toddlers and Tiaras, you should. This show has sparked great controversy pertaining to pageants. This reality TV show took a step into the lives of numerous children ranging from newborn to preteens chasing the dream of being a beauty queen. While some people find this humerous others are not too happy about it. The thought of sexualizing girls that need to use flipper teeth for pageants because they have not even grown in all their teeth yet concerns them. Some of these girls look years older than they actually are with the hair, makeup and costumes that are way to mature for their age. I don’t think a lot of them really know what it’s for anyways, many say that the girls mothers are trying to live through their daughters. Whatever the case is I do agree these children are free to do whatever makes them happy and that playing princess would be very fascinating to a young girl. In other ways some children just do it to please family members and would much rather be doing something else than walking on stage.
But why even compare this to the Miss USA organization? The girls in this competition are old enough to actually know this is what they want to do. These women actually have a platform. A platform is what a winner is trying to create awareness of and/or developing fundraising for such as eating disorders or a hurricane disaster. It is not all about making women an object or flaunting around it’s about showing beauty inside and out. Never once did I here the production tell myself or anyone else to become more “sexy” or to lose weight. The organization promoted individuality and fitness, never to look skinny. I actually gained confidence in the way I look and who I am by competing in the competition.
The Miss USA website describes their title holders as “savvy, goal-oriented and aware. The delegates who become part of the Miss Universe Organization display those characteristics in their everyday lives, both as individuals, who compete with hope of advancing their careers, personal and humanitarian goals, and as women who seek to improve the lives of others.” I think that pageants are a great way to gain confidence and find yourself. All of the girls I met in my experience were some of the sweetest and most kind-hearted people I have ever me. Being crowned does not mean you were the skinniest, the prettiest, or just faked your way through. It means you are taking on the responsibility of being a role model to every young women in the world, it means being committed to the numerous appearances and charities, and it means you actually want to change the world for better.
