Beauty pageant

"Beauty contest" redirects here. For other uses, see Beauty contest (disambiguation).

"Beauty queen" redirects here. For other uses, see Beauty queen (disambiguation).

A beauty pageant or beauty contest, is a competition that mainly focuses 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 Children pageants mainly focus on beauty, gowns, sportswear modelling, talent, and personal interviews. Adult and teen pageants focus on makeup, hair and gowns, swimsuit modelling, casual modelling and personal interviews. There may be titles such as Tiny Miss, Little Miss, Teen Miss or just "Miss". Awards Such as Tiaras,Banners or Scholarships may be given out afterwards.

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.

Purpose

When beauty pageants began, they were viewed as “trivial events whose interpretation required no scholarly effort.” Miss America, the first pageant of its kind, has made an effort to ensure that it does not appear as a "stereotypical" pageant.

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 who 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.

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 whom the girls looked up to the most. They needed to be someone whom girls could connect with and apply their lives to. They are now considered an "exemplar of cultural flow."

Some pageants award college scholarships, to either only the winner or multiple runners-up.

Types of pageants

In beauty pageants, there are 3 main 'types'.

A glitz pageant requires the contestants to wear heavy makeup and heavy glitter, rhinestones, and sometimes even swimsuits. Most glitz pageants require a flipper, or fake teeth. The flipper is an impression made from a special putty, sent to a dental physiologist, and made into a cover that fits over the tooth area.

A semi-glitz pageant is a lot like glitz, only certain details are not allowed. For example, contestants may have points taken off if they wear a flipper. Usually, semi-glitz pageants lack tanning (Usually a spray tan) or a flipper, and contestants may not be able to wear as much makeup as a traditional glitz.

Natural pageants allow no makeup, no flippers, and absolutely no rhinestones on the dress. Contestants may not wear hair pieces, or points will be taken off or the contestants may be disqualified.

International Pageant of Pulchritude

Main article: 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. 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." This contest is said to have served as a model for modern pageants. It featured contestants from England, Russia, Turkey, and many other nations and the title awarded at the time was known as "Miss Universe." The event was discontinued in the United States in 1932 because of the Depression (the international competition was revived briefly in Belgium).

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.

Some beauty pageants have taken a less conventional route in modern times. In 2011, Dirty Beer Hole, a website that is popular among the users of social-media giants Twitter and Facebook, began seeking contestants for it's irreverent, yet entertaining, Miss Cheap Beer beauty pageant. Additional online beauty pageants are certain to follow in this trend of online competitions.

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.

Beauty pageants can also be scams. The promoters charge large fees, require additional photos or specific attire that must be purchased from a sponsor and in some cases the prize goes to a confederate within the contest.

See also

• List of beauty contests
• Bride-show
• Concours d'Elegance
• Child beauty pageant
• Living Dolls: The Making of a Child Beauty Queen      

• Related events for men:
  • Mr. Universe
  • Mr. World
  • Manhunt International
  • Mister International

References

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