Written By: Shalini Gopal
In today’s day and age, are beauty pageants still relevant? Nina Davuluri won the Miss. America title last weekend, making her the first person of South-Asian descent to win the title. There has been a huge backlash from Americans who have been appalled that she won (but that is best left for another story).
What I sat wondering was, why in today’s age, do we still have beauty pageants? I mean, in my opinion, beauty pageants continue to contribute in the objectification of women. Why do we need to judge a women’s beauty, and have them compete for a title based mainly on physical appearance?
Toddlers and Tiaras, a popular show where toddlers participate in such ridiculous pageants further teach girls that appearance is what determines their success. We should teach our girls much more than that. Beauty without brains is nothing. In a bold move, France has just announced last week that it is banning all child beauty pageants because they are resulting in the hyper-sexualization of minors. (The Senate has adopted the Bill, and now will be making its way as a law). Organisers of such pageants may face a jail term of up to two years and a fine of 30,000 euros (£25,000; $40,000).
Whenever I see a beauty pageant contest, I really feel disgusted. Do you see a group of men parading themselves around competing in beauty pageants to the same scale? Why do we women allow society to objectify us to mere objects measured on outward appearance? Have we not come a long way in fighting against oppression to further subject ourselves to this?
I want to one day, be able to see a community of girls, who will not fret over how they look and measure themselves in outward worldly looks. I want them to measure their success by their intelligence, confidence and their contribution to society. In today’s day and age, I say, beauty pageants are for the weak.
Tags: Speak Out
