Beauty pageants may seem like events that merely showcase glamour and physical appearance. However, these events are much deeper than they appear. They are a platform for cultural expression and artistic talent that celebrates identity within the Asian American community. This essay will explore how these pageants have evolved from their historical roots and have become pivotal arenas for Asian Americans to challenge stereotypes, assert their presence, and paint vibrant portraits of their cultural heritage. Historically, beauty pageants date back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States, with roots in the "beauty contests" held at seaside resorts and amusement parks. These contests primarily focused on physical attractiveness …show more content…
For Asian American women, participating in beauty pageants can be a way to negotiate their identities within the broader context of American culture while celebrating their heritage. Beauty pageants have been lauded and criticized for their representation of Asian American women. Historically, Western media often stereotyped Asian American women as submissive, exotic, or hypersexualized. Beauty pageants provided a platform for Asian American women to challenge these stereotypes by showcasing their intelligence, talent, and leadership skills. Winners of these pageants often became role models within the Asian American community, inspiring others to pursue their dreams despite societal barriers. However, beauty pageants have also faced criticism for perpetuating narrow beauty standards and reinforcing gender norms. The emphasis on physical appearance and conformity to Western beauty standards can perpetuate unrealistic beauty ideals and contribute to body image issues among contestants, including Asian American women. Additionally, the hypercompetitive nature of beauty pageants can foster a culture of objectification and commodification of women's
The judges of the Miss America pageant have changed through the years to reflect the changing ideals of the pageant itself. “In the early years of the pageant, the judges were primarily artists and illustrators, in part because such men – and they were all men – were considered to have the best eye for the beautiful feminine form. In more recent years, efforts have been made to attract judges who represent the various facets of the pageant” (Banet-Weiser 54). The selection of judges from the fields represented in the pageant show that the Miss America pageant is more than just a strictly beauty pageant. “Defining beauty is an elusive, if not impossible task. No single definition fits because as culture evolves, so does the...
...as Miss USA and Miss Universe are competitions intended for mature, self-assured women who are capable of making their own decisions. Child beauty pageants, however, ruin childhoods and force them to grow up believing in their looks, rather than in themselves. It is no surprise, that emotional distress plagues the contestants that participate in beauty long after stepping off of the stage; subjecting young girls of any age to judgment and ridicule is not only humiliating but horrific to think that we are sitting back being entertained by their competitive nature. Rather than raising strong, confident girls who want to achieve the best in life; the parents and the hosts of these competitions provide a platform on which little girls are dressed up as skimpy Barbie dolls and paraded around, trying to achieve some form of perfection that shouldn’t exist in little girls.
Beauty Pageants.” Journal of Law & Policy 18.2 (2010): 739-774. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19. Mar. 2014.
Girlhood, Beauty Pageants, and Power: Trailer Park Royalty attempts to inquiry an array of hard-hitting, yet crucial questions necessary to uncover the various complexities surrounding the beauty pageant subculture within what Thompson-Hardy claims to be Southern rural America. Furthermore, the author drew a link between agents of power and structural practices and how they both maintain dominance and shape the subculture to formulate young contestants identities, and overall “girlhood”. Debates and critical discourse are nothing new to child beauty pageant participation, where many point to the organization as the location to blame for its detrimental influence, problematic sexualization of young girls for hopeful monetary gain, and pushed
Besides the attractive women in half-naked outfits, what does the Miss America Beauty Pageant really represent? This pageant lowers the self-esteem of women who don’t feel like they meet the standards of what society thinks is a beautiful woman. The pageant alone requires contestants to spend a huge amount of money. The message that this pageant is sending is that all women should compete against each other. The Miss America pageant gains millions of viewers, but people fail to notice the population of women who are not happy with themselves. This pageant has many issues regarding women’s image and the definition of beauty that people need to pay attention to.
... beauty pageants." Globe & Mail [Toronto, Canada] 9 Mar. 2012: L4. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
Have you ever watched the reality television show Toddlers & Tiaras? Toddlers & Tiaras is a show about the glitz of the pageant world that little girls are more than likely forced, by their parents, to participate in. It is mandatory for them to have fake tans, fake eye lashes, fake teeth, and a ridiculous amount of make-up. Not to mention the unsuitable outfits these girls’ parents vow that they wear. Beauty pageants exploit little girls and attract sexual predators.
American’s unneeded celebration of beauty in the pageantry world is digging a hole for the country and has been the contributing factor to the downward spiral we are presently in. The system of this pageant needs to change tremendously in order for it to become a beneficial contest in the future. Beauty pageants to...
Issues regarding the purpose of beauty pageants alarm women since majority of the beauty pageants are for them. Let us look at the good side of beauty pageants. First, allows the use...
Modern beauty contests started in the United States of America in 1880 with the first Miss United States bathing beauty contest held at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Since then, beauty pageants had been popular in many parts of the world. Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss International, participated in every year by more than fifty countries, ceaselessly attracts huge audiences and supporters. The biggest, the Miss World competition, had been running annually since 1951, and although it is less popular in the UK now than it was in 1968, when it attracted 27.5 million TV viewers, it still attracts an enormous worldwide audience of up to 3 billion viewers in 120 countries. [1] Although the main purpose of these pageants are to empower women, the crowned winners are also traveling around the world in order to support causes like HIV/AIDS and children's charity organizations. [2] Due to the success of these internationally produced pageants, various beauty contests for different classes of age, sex and sexuality stemmed up. However, even with the huge diversity, the content of each pageants have almost always been the same: all of them are comprised of the mainstream categories like swimwear portion and evening gown portion. With these content, beauty pageants gives out strong messages regarding what the ideal type of woman is, hence undermining the purpose of a beauty pageant: to empower women. Thus, although beauty pageants contribute to the entertainment of the masses, it promotes an ideal of female beauty that only a minority of women can realistically aspire, objectifies women, further advances cultural insensitivity among its candidates and uses up too much resources which is why it should be banned.
If beauty is more than skin deep, why are women still being judged by their appearance rather than their abilities? Even after the emergence of feminism, women are still being degraded to nothing more than just mere objects. In fact, beauty pageants, which many deem to be a sport, are the platform for women to be exploited by men and even women alike all over the globe. First and foremost, the concept of beauty of a woman is biased. We are all living in a society that exist a look-based culture in which women are being scrutinized and subjected to mockery if they do not possess the qualities of a biased definition of beautiful.
Many people are against beauty pageants, because people think that pageants are sexist, judgmental, and degrading of women. Do beauty pageants still serve their purpose in society? Yes, many contestants gain a lot by doing pageants. Contestants of any age and gender have their benefits from doing pageants.
The history of pageants has dated back to the 1920s, when the first Miss America, Margaret Gorman, was crowned. According to research, The United States has traced back its roots of pageantry where it even dates back when the Women’s Liberation and Civil Rights Movement started. In the early 1920s, also known as the “Roaring Twenties,” women did not have any rights in the United States. Society during this time saw women having the role of being married and staying at home while taking care of their kids and tending to their homely duties. Women in the 1920s were in the process of fighting for their right to vote as well as having equal rights in America and being able to work in the workforce. On August 18, 1920, the change for women’s rights had just begun, the 19th amendment passed by congress granted women the right to vote in the United States. The labor force for women was beginning to change as well. Women were once seen having the role of “feminine” jobs. Society saw women taking jobs like nursing and teaching. Men did not like the fact that the w...
Beauty pageants have long been a form of entertainment, exhibiting beautiful women with ideal bodies competing with their talent and their looks. Many pageant moms involve their daughters in children’s pageants to help them improve their social skills, exercise their talents, and boost their self-esteem. Although the pageants may seem like harmless competition with benefits, research shows that they may be doing the young beauty queens more harm than good. “...the girls are receiving conflicting messages: In order to win, the girls must show a unique personality, but they must also act and dress in a hyper feminine manner and conform to the pageant world 's ideal standard of beauty and narrow set of conventions.” (University of Kansas,
Can anyone actually justify judging someone by their physical appearance? Although parents enjoy seeing their little girls in the spotlight all dolled up, most children don’t enjoy the pageant experience as much as the parents, and this vicarious living is dangerous, and the pageants have the capability of exploiting the children. Beauty pageants have a background of treating women disrespectfully and as if they are not equal. Women’s bodies are seen as objects of beauty as if we are just here to parade around for others. Today’s pageants are still set up in the same direction even for the youngest contests. They are dressed up to look like adults and sometimes dressed provocative. “Beauty pageants are a reflection of a culture in which women are not equal. Women’s bodies are not their own but are seen as objects of beauty for others.” (Nasso).