In your opinion, what relevance do beauty pageants have in society today?

Question

Some people see pageants as just beauty contests while some see these as an opportunity for women to make an impact on society. Whether you see them as frivolous or important, everyone has a opinion. What’s your view?

Answer 1

in theory they are very very pointless.

Firstly is the femenist view (women being viewed as sex objects yada yada) that i wont rehash

Secondly is that beauty pagents seem more and more boring and scripted.

Why do i use the word scripted? The first reason is the age old beauty trap. In which women were supposed to conform to certain standards of beauty. I also won't go into specifications about this.

Try a simple experiment, take a group photo of a localized beauty pagent contestants, Miss Singapore Universe does fine (if they are wearing the same clothes is bonus) and use black marker to blot out their faces. Then use some imagination to make them all have the same skin tones.

What do you get? Approximately that same body shape, the only real noticible variation being height (leg and body length) and small variations in width (waist)

Then move to their faces alone, use the old imagination trick to remove the makeup and you will find that their facial features (eyes, nose, smile) also vary very little from each other. I don't really count hair as it can be styled to be anything (meaning if you judge beauty pagents on in-born beauty alone, a haircut should be out as it is determined by a hairstylist, not nature.)

To sum it up being a beauty pagent contestant is like going for a job interview and being presented with a LOT OF VERY VERY SPECIFIC job requirements. Few would qualify and they all will be very similar skills wise.

So the saving grace, the Q&A segment. With all the factory made pretty faces this segment is meant to weed out the smart ones from the bimbos, while they are usually do the job, the most distressing part is the quality of the answers. They are either seem like memorized answers (world peace again......) or the models show their complete lack of understanding of current affairs or try so hard to remain politically correct they give weak answers.

Bad Examples:
Q: If you were the PM for another day what would you do
A: I would have a campaign to...(my mind shuts down at this point of time at the thought of another govt campaign)

Q: If you had one wish what would you wish for
A: World Peace (mind yawns)

One Sole Lone Good Example
Q: Which sport do you think singapore will do well in?
A: The one that imports most foreign talent (showing cheek, wit and good knowledge of the scene)

The sad part is she didn't win

Last point, honestly what impact do you expect a beauty queen to make beyond the world of fasion and advertising? Sure everyone points to the charity work she has to do but it is different from something like the nobel prize.

Nobel Prize: you spend your life doing something to help mankind (helping the poor, doing important cancer research), you may or may not win it but it's not important to you
Pagent: You preen yourself for years. Win the beauty contest. Broker blockbuster spokesperson deals with cosmetics companies and movie deals. Snag a rich tycoon's son and oh do some charity on the side to show your big heart.

Kind of different to me.

Ok i'm probably going to get a lot of thumbs downs for what i touched so i think i'll stop for now

Answer 2

I think that beauty pageants would be much better if these things are improved: the contestants that are chosen to be the top 20 or 15; the judges for the competition and some of the segments.

Take for example, the recent Ms World 2006 pageant. The pageant was not that great (albeit the fact that the girls did have the height, looks, figure and brains). Half of the time, the girls paraded in tiny bikinis with too much flesh exposed. While some may perceive them as being confident of their bodies ( I do agree though that they are confident of themselves) I do not really think that they need to wear such tiny clothes just to get noticed. They have the brains so what is the need to expose so much flesh?

The Ms Singapore Universe pageant needs a lot of improvement though. Every year when I look at the shots of the finalists, I get so disappointed. Most of the contestants (not all though) lack the height, do not have great figures and worst still, some do not have the looks, poise and intelligence (they are not that articulate either). How then can it be said that these girls have the winning combination of brains, beauty and elegance?

Take for example, last year's pageant, I thought Jade Seah and a few others were fine. However, one contestant really turned me off. When asked by Simon Webb (of UK''s boyband BLUE) what song she would be able to relate to, her answer was Pussycat Dolls' "Don't Cha". The reason being? She says that she's hot like them too! Gimme a break! She was not eloquent, had no looks whatsoever and worst still, she didn't know the title of the song!

While some of the Ms Singapore contestants are not that bad, I still feel that there is much to be improved on.

Sometimes, beauty pageants may tend to influence girls on what the ideal body type is considering the finalists are usually quite slim. So that may contribute to girls wanting to be slim so desperately that they go on crash diets or develop eating disorders

However, on the bright side, if a woman holds a title like Ms Singapore World or Ms Universe etc, they could use this title to promote good work like volunteerism and helping out the community. The title may also help them in some other positive ways too. While some of these girls may already be successful and capable (before winning), the title will definitely make it easier for them achieve what they want to achieve (for the greater good of the community).

So I guess that beauty pageants have some good outcomes too.

To sum it up, I think that like any other thing, beauty pageants have both positive and negative aspects.

At the end of the day, I think it is really the winner that is chosen and how she carries out her duties as a pageant title holder that matters the most.

Answer 3

Everyone likes to see beautiful things and I think Beauty Pageants works like the Singapore Idol, Project Superstar etc...Profits are always the main concern by Organisers (from adverts air-time etc minus the the sms-ing). If there is demand, there will be supply. Beauty is subjective and I feel that it is actually quite shallow to have to hold such pageants to compare women, their intelligence, beauty, wits etc when in the 1st place, these should not be judged. The "ugly" ones get rejected and the "beautiful" ones get to the finals. And then these women start to appear in public with prepared speech which in a way determine their "intelligence". It is therefore frivolous. Correct me if I'm wrong as I've never been a part of BPs. I believe most of these women want to be publicly known as a Beauty Queen or contestant, be it their aim as a stepping stone to fame, vainity or otherwise, the ultimate is to be in the limelight. Afterall, which women reject the idea of being labelled a Beauty Queen? But we cannot deny the confidence boost and experiences of the contest that have made everyone a better person in a way or so. However, I strongly believe that Beauty Pageants are unimportant to society but perhaps a turning point for some individuals.

Answer 4

I think whether beauty pageants are frivolous or important depends on the purpose of organising them. If the organizers are looking for beauty and brains, then make sure the winner has both qualities. That's not the end, whether the winner does make a contibution to the society is another concern. Perhaps more reports about what the reigning Miss Singapore has been doing or has done to contribute to society should be made so that we know that they are not simply 'vases'. More public awareness of how these women have contributed in any way to society would most likely change the way most people perceive beauty pageants. That's the purpose of such pageants, isn't it?

Answer 5

I do see it as just a beauty contest but at the same time, i feel that the ladies are thinking that it is a time for them to show out their beauty and make everyone recognise them. I feel that it sort of makes people who are uglier or don't have the chance to take part in the beauty pageant to feel bad about themselves. Feeling bad that why can't they take part and if they did, why didn't they get selected?


As a lady, and if I am beautiful, I will definitely take part in the pageant. Why? Because I want to let everyone in Singapore know that I have the looks and I want to show them out.


Make it this way. Man D has a bad impression of lady B because of some reasons. Lady B is beautiful and thinks she can make her way through something by just using her looks. She then takes part in the beauty pageant and manages to get the 1st runner up. Will Man D have a better impression of her? Will she get a better place in her working place if Man D is her boss? Thus, I feel that beauty pageant is just choosing a lady who is beautiful to represent the country, so how does it allow a lady to make an impact on society?


So, in my opinion, I think that beauty pageants in society today just allow these ladies to be recognised and maybe become a celebrity someday. I bet now that even if you ask some people who is the Miss Singapore right now, they might say I don't know.

Answer 6

At best, beauty pageants are just high class TV entertainment for the public. All those answers given by contestants about doing something good for the underprivileged children, etc sounded so fake and so rehearsed!

Anyone can do something for society with great impact, not just beauty queens! So what is the relevance of the pageant? What is the whole point of linking beauties with contribution to society? Without joining a beauty pageant, does it mean that the majority of us cannot make any real impact in society?

Answer 7

Hi Eunice, we met some time back at EA.

I think that beauty pageants are one of the best reality programs we have. If nothing else, it certainly promotes the appreciation of one of God's most beautiful creations which come in all forms of ethnicity.

But there is more of course..beauty pageants are the representation of the very essence of the modern woman - beautiful, intelligent, strong yet gentle and kind.
They are a great influencing source, provided that the winners or competitors actually contribute positively to society by charity or social or environmental work and the like.
They are also a good influence on particularly the young whom need better role models other than the many film and pop idols who are mostly not concern of their public reputation or the fact that they are voluntary or not - a role model for the youth.

It does not matter how much or how little being crowned Miss Singapore Universe has gotten you where you are now. But more so the fact that you have put your title to really good use and have accomplished a lot in bettering society since then while upholding a good self image.
I believe that this is proof of the "relevance" to answer your question.

Answer 8

In the past, Beauty Queens were only Pretty Faces. Brains never mattered until someone made a deciding rule on it. In the modern world context, a Beauty Pageant should have Beauty, Intelligence and Speech. Unfortunately, we cannot always find them all packaged in one. Well, when we do, they get the crown. However, mostly they are just very Singaporean girls who carry themselves with little etiquette and come across more like air-heads. First off, many of which have difficulties with pronounciation.

It would be wonderful to think that She will contribute to the society but how have they other than Eunice Olsen? Just a girl who won some cash and pride, whom you never get to see or hear again.

On several occasions, the hosts of these Beauty Pageants shined more than the participants. Ouch.

The Pageant should search for candidates and not have them coming to you. In most counts, those with brains are smart enough not to be part of the cat-scratch club.

It is as important as it can be. Only if the winner takes it to higher grounds and make proud the country. Otherwise, it is just another entertainment programme on TV.

That's my penny's worth.

Answer 9

I see no relevance at all. What relevance or importance do they have in moulding the society or world for that matter? World peace is not about some beauty strutting their swimsuit in front of million viewers and being crowned the winner. It is not about having a perfect figure and smooth skin with voluptuous assets that filled up the stomach of millions of people living in poverty around the world. How many beauty pageant winners have actually achieved what they set out to do?

Please do not get me wrong. I have nothing against these beauty pageants. By all means flaunt it if you have it but just keep it that way. Just a beauty contest. Just like a body building contest. It is just a contest. I do not see any relation between beauty pageants and providing for a better society or striving for world peace.

Women have already made an impact in the society without having to resort to beauty contest. We have women politicians, CEOs, all around the world as living proof. If these beauty pageant contestants whom we perceived as highly educated beauties with degrees and masters hanging on their wall felt that they have not created enough impact for the society to recognise them and requires a beauty platform for that matter, then it is a pity.

As I said earlier, it is just another contest.

Answer 10

There really is no point in beauty pageants in Singapore to be honest. As most or all (in most recent years) contestants don't really qualify to be crowned a beauty. And if in fact they are there to create an impact within the local society. Sadly, intelligence isn't their forte. From the way they carry themselves, It was really depressing to learn that a few years back contestants had to take English speaking lessons. I find it rather appalling that anyone in fact would want to compete in a pageant where you would also need to address a question or topic without being able to speak properly. In actual fact, many Singaporeans watch pageants not to witness beauty or intelligence but rather for a simple good laugh. So the only relevance "beauty" pageants have on society today would only be comical.

Answer 11

I personally feel that beauty pageants allow for women who are passionate and motivated to help make a difference in the world. Unfortunately, the method through which it is done (the pageant's layout and such) structure the public's generally negative opinion of the pageant. Resulting in people viewing the contestants in a more physical manner than intellectual. Admittedly, the pageant does spend more time going through physical aspects than intellectual, which is probably why a physical view is dominant.

However, because people are generally attracted to those who are physically attractive and appealing. It helps to draw other people into making a change in society as these women may touch or motivate a person viewing the pageant or reading the news on their intentions and such. Thus, drawing others to their cause and so forth.

Beauty pageants can be seen as both frivolous and important. It just depends on the observer's opions and the way in which the pageant is presented to the public. More importantly, the substance and character of each participant does play a vital role.