Beauty pageant
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A beauty pageant, or beauty contest, is a competition based mainly on the physical beauty of its contestants, although such contests often incorporate personality, talent, and answers to judges' questions as judged criteria. The phrase almost invariably refers only to contests for women; similar events for men are called by other names and are more likely to be "body building" contests. Winners of beauty contests are often called beauty queens.
History
Choosing symbolic kings and queens for May Day and other festivities is an ancient custom in Europe in which beautiful young women symbolized their nations' virtues and other abstract ideas. At the Eglinton Tournament of 1839 - a re-enactment of a medieval joust and revel held in Scotland in which many distinguished guests took part and which gained much public attention at the time - a Queen of Beauty was chosen, Georgiana Sheridan, the wife of Edward Seymour, 12th Duke of Somerset and sister of noted author Caroline Norton.
The first modern American pageant was staged by P. T. Barnum in 1854, but his beauty contest was closed down by public protest. He previously held dog, baby, and bird beauty contests. He substituted daguerreotypes for judging, a practice quickly adopted by newspapers. Newspapers held photo beauty contests for many decades: In 1880, the first “Bathing Beauty Pageant" took place as part of a summer festival to promote business in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
Contests became a regular part of summer beach life, with the most elaborate contests taking place in Atlantic City, New Jersey (“Fall Frolic”) and Galveston, Texas ("Splash Day"), where the events attracted women from many cities and towns.[1]
Purpose
Back when beauty pageants first started, they were viewed as “trivial events whose interpretation required no scholarly effort.” [citation needed] Miss America, the first pageant of its kind, has made an effort to ensure that it does not appear as a "stereotypical" pageant. The competition emphasizes the different aspects of women and highlights their personal successes. They strive to give these women the opportunity to rise to the top. Pageant participants return to their hometowns and promote community involvement. [citation needed]
Pageants may be multicultural or racially specific, such as Miss Chinese International Pageant, Miss Black America or Miss Indian America.
Another goal of pageants is promoting self-esteem of the contestants. Girls that compete feel a sense of belonging with the other contestants, and the larger pageant community. Contestants gain the ability to speak in public, and a sense of confidence in themselves. Winners of these pageants have said that feel they have a sense of accomplishment. [citation needed]
Some pageants are aligned with clubs to raise money for charities. The “clubs” that each contestant supports may be referred to as “platforms.”
By the 1960s, pageantry took off. Women were becoming more and more educated, and more viewed in the public eye. Six more pageants became established; Miss USA, Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss Teenage American Pageant, Miss National Teen-ager, and the Miss Teen All America Pageant. The winners of these pageants became role models for little girls and teens. The key role in being a queen was to understand and support topical issues. The winners especially were the women who the girls looked up to the most. They needed to be someone who girls could connect with and apply their lives to. They are now considered an "exemplar of cultural flow." Pageants like the Miss Teenage California Scholarship Pageant do not have a swimsuit competition and award thousands in college scholarships.
International Pageant of Pulchritude
In May 1920 promoter C.E. Barfield of Galveston organized a new event known as "Splash Day" on the island. The event featured a "Bathing Girl Revue" competition as the centerpiece of its attractions.[1][2][3] The event was the kick-off of the summer tourist season in the city and was carried forward annually. The event quickly became known outside of Texas and, beginning in 1926, the world's first international contest was added, known as the "International Pageant of Pulchritude."[2] This contest is said to have served as a model for modern pageants.[3][4][5] It featured contestants from England, Russia, Turkey, and many other nations and the title awarded at the time was known as "Miss Universe."[3][6] The event was discontinued in the United States in 1932 because of the Depression (the international competition was revived briefly in Belgium).
Miss America and beyond
The modern beauty pageant's origin is traceable to the Miss America pageant,[citation needed] which was first held in Atlantic City in 1921, under the title "Inter-City Beauty Contest." The Miss America Pageant eventually included preliminary eliminations, an evening gown competition, musical variety shows, and judging by panel.[dubious – discuss] Still, the contest was at first shunned by middle-class society. Pageants did not become respectable until World War II, when "beauty queens" were recruited to sell bonds and to entertain troops. Scholarships and talent competitions evoked even closer scrutiny of contestants’ morals and backgrounds. The Miss America Pageant is the largest provider of college scholarships for women in the world.[citation needed]
Around the globe
Major international contests for women include the yearly Miss World competition (founded by Eric Morley in 1951), Miss Universe (founded in 1952), Miss International (founded in 1960) and Miss Earth (founded in 2001 with environmental awareness as its concern). These are considered the "Grand Slam" or "Big Four" pageants, the four largest and most famous international beauty contests. Minor contests, such as the Miss Bondi contest in Australia, are common throughout the world in the summer months. During the 1950s, pageants thrived to promote county fairs and local products. For example, some of Raquel Welch's titles included " Maid of San Diego County", " Maid of California" "Miss Photogenic" and "Miss Contour." Women from around the world participate each year in local competitions for the chance to represent their country's international title.
2002 was a year remarkable for its number of winners from countries with a majority Muslim population. In that year Miss Lebanon, Christina Sawaya won the Miss International pageant, Miss Turkey, Azra Akın won Miss World, and the original winner of Miss Earth for that year was Džejla Glavović from Bosnia and Herzegovina (before being replaced by Winfred Omwakwe of Kenya). In 2006, the Muslim nation of Pakistan crowned its first Miss Bikini Universe, Mariyah Moten, which later became a controversy worldwide.
In the year 2010, another big pageant was established and this is Miss Supranational,owned by Mrs Tryny Yandar Lobón, President of the WORLD BEAUTY ASSOCIATION. The marvelous advancement into the official "Grand Slam of Beauty Pageants" had been announced on 7 November 2010,by the wordwide leading industry website and pageant experts.
Selecting a "beauty queen"
Beauty pageants are generally multi-tiered and popular, with local competitions feeding into the larger competitions. The worldwide pageants, thus, require hundreds, sometimes thousands, of local competitions. In the United States, there is now a commercial beauty pageant industry that organizes thousands of local and regional events for all ages for profit supported by magazines like The Crown Magazine and Pride of Pageantry.
The typical perception of a beauty pageant is that it occurs once a year, has women of a petite frame, the event is live on stage, and that a talent is involved somehow. Particularly with the advent of the internet, this perception has changed drastically. Although they are not "live," Internet and mail-in pageants have provided a plethora of entertainment to those who compete and an opportunity not available to those unable or hesitant to travel.
Size no longer is a limiting factor as many competitions espouse the goal of "natural" beauty. There are also more and more pageants, which are dedicated to the "plus sized" delegate. While a size 14-16 may be considered a traditional plus-size in the US, in the pageant world a size 6-8 may be considered as plus depending upon the pageant system.
Although the selection of a Beauty Queen is thought to be an annual event, there are no hard and fast rules as to the frequency of selection. Pageants have also changed dates and frequency based upon the needs of the Organization. Take for instance, Miss America. For decades, Miss America was held during the fall with the pageant usually occurring in September. Recently, the date changed to January. This produced a term of greater than a year length for that Miss America.
On the other hand, some terms have been shortened due to needs of the Organization. For example, during its formative years, the Mrs. United Nation Pageant had several seasonal changes with some Queens holding a term of less than a year.
There are other pageants who take a totally different approach altogether. Particularly in reference to on-line photogenic pageants, there are competitions in which a winner is chosen on a monthly or even weekly basis. There are those who will take each of these as a "preliminary winner" with the intent upon a "final" competition at some later date. Others treat each of these as a "final" winner and provide a title.
Regardless of the method of competition, break down of scores or frequency of selection, all are defined as "entertainment in the form of a beauty pageant." It is up to the individual to determine which is best suited for competition or of particular entertainment interest.
Criticism
Critics of beauty contests argue that such contests reinforce the idea that (usually young) women should be valued primarily for their physical appearance, and that this puts tremendous pressure on women to “be beautiful” by spending time and money on fashion, cosmetics, hair styling and even cosmetic surgery. This pursuit of physical beauty even encourages some women to diet to the point of harming themselves.[7][8][9]
Although some competitions have components that are not based purely on physical appearance, “unattractive” contestants are unlikely to win, no matter how talented, poised, intelligent, educated, resourceful or socially conscious they are. Rather than providing women with opportunities, it can be argued that beauty contests hurt the prospects of women who do not fit the current cultural ideal of beauty, because these contests promote the idea that those who fit this ideal are “better” than those who do not. And some pageants require a swimsuit for a portion of the competition, which emphasizes the physical bodies of women, some claim in undressed state.
Winners of notable international pageants
The country won more than one of these pageants in the same year.
Countries by number of wins
| Country/Territory | Titles | Miss Universe | Miss World | Miss International | Miss Earth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Venezuela
|
18
|
6
|
5
|
6
|
1
|
 United States
|
13
|
7
|
3
|
3
|
|
 India
|
8
|
2
|
5
|
1
| |
 United Kingdom
|
5
|
3
|
|||
 Puerto Rico
|
7
|
5
|
1
|
1
|
|
 Australia
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
||
 Philippines
|
2
|
4
|
1
| ||
 Sweden
|
6
|
3
|
3
|
||
 Brazil
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
2
| |
 Germany
|
5
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
|
 Finland
|
4
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
|
 Mexico
|
2
|
2
|
|||
 Argentina
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
||
 Netherlands
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
||
 Colombia
|
1
|
3
|
|||
 Spain
|
1
|
3
|
|||
 Iceland
|
3
|
1
|
|||
 Poland
|
1
|
3
|
^ Lúcia Petterle of Brazil was not even offered a contract as Miss World 1971 because she refused to fulfill her schedule. There was no official replacement.[10]
^ Helen Morgan[11] of the United Kingdom and Gabriella Brum[12] of Germany resigned as Miss World and were succeeded by their respective 1st runners-up: Anneline Kriel of South Africa in 1974 and Kimberley Santos of Guam in 1980.
^ Marjorie Wallace of the United States was fired after four months later because of sensational publicity over her relationships with three male celebrities. She wasn't succeeded by first runner-up Evangeline Pascual of the Philippines.[13]
See also
|
Notes
- ^ a b Stein, Elissa (2006). Beauty Queen: Here She Comes... Chronicle Books. p. 37. ISBN 9780811848640.
"Revues and other Vanities: The Commodification of Fantasy in the 1920s". Assumption College. Retrieved 2 October 2009. - ^ a b "Miss United States Began In Galveston". The Islander Magazine. 2006.
- ^ a b c Cherry, Bill (25 October 2004). "Miss America was once Pageant of Pulchritude". Galveston Daily News.
- ^ Brown, Bridget (17 May 2009). "Isle bathing beauty tradition reborn". Galveston Daily News.
- ^ Savage, Candace (1998). Beauty queens: a playful history. Abbeville. p. 33. ISBN 9781550546187.
- ^ The Billboard: 49. 25 September 1948 http://books.google.com/books?id=Tx4EAAAAMBAJ.
{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Beauty and body image in the media". Media Awareness Network. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
- ^ "Reigning Miss Universe Suspected of Having Cosmetic Surgery". Retrieved 23 August 2010.
- ^ "Plastic Surgery: Bollywood, Miss Universe, and the Indian Girl Next Door" (PDF). Gujarati Magazine (Sandesh). Retrieved 23 August 2010.
- ^ "Miss World 1971 loses right to use title". Star-News. UPI. 16 December 2010. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
- ^ "Ex-Miss World in a different era". BBC Wales. 10 September 2004. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
- ^ "A short reign for Miss World". The Baltimore Sun. 15 November 1980. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
- ^ "Miss World draws flack". Boca Raton News. UPI. 25 November 1974. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
References
- Sones, Michael. "History of the Beauty Pageant." Beauty Worlds: The Culture of Beauty (2003): n. pag. Web. 4 November 2009.
- Liben, Lynn S., Rebecca S. Bigler, Diane N Ruble, Carol Lynn Martin, and Kimberly K. Powlishta. "Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Evaluating Constructs and Pathways." Developmental Course of Gender Differentiation. 67.2 i-183. Print.
- Harvey, Adia M. "Becoming Entrepreneurs: Intersections of Race, Class, and Gender at the Black Beauty Salon." Gender and Society. 19.6 (2005): 789-808. Print.
- Craig, Maxine. "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World: Beauty Pageants and National Identity.." American Journal of Sociology. 105.6 (2000): 1805-1806. Print.
- Wilk, Richard. "The Local and the Global in the Political Economy of Beauty: From Miss Belize to Miss World." Review of International Political Economy. 2.1 (1995): 117-134. Print.
- Burgess, Zena, and Phyllis Tharenou. "Women Board Directors: Characteristics of the Few." Journal of Business Ethics. 37.1 (2002): 39-49. Print.
- Huffman, Matt L., and Philip N. Cohen. "Occupational Segregation and the Gender Gap in Workplace Authority: National versus Local Labor Markets." Sociological Forum. 19.1 (2004): 121-147. Print.
- Ciborra, Claudio U. "The Platform Organization: Recombining Strategies, Structures, and Surprises." Organization Science. 7.2 (1996): 103-118. Print.
- Lamsa, Anna-Maija, and Teppo Sintonen. "A Discursive Approach to Understanding Women Leaders in Working Life." Journal of Business Ethics. 34.3/4 (2001): 255-267. Print.
- Bell, Myrtle P., Mary E. McLaughlin, and Jennifer M. Sequeira. "Discrimination, Harassment, and the Glass Ceiling: Women Executives as Change Agents." Journal of Business Ethics. 37.1 (2002): 65-76. Print.