Whats your opinion on pageants?

Question

I have this friend who competes in beauty pageants. She is 22 years old, all grown up and able to make her own decisions; she gets LIVID when I and others refer to her pageants as a ‘beauty pageant’ because she says its so much more than that. (brains)

Here is my opinion,…if you want to participate in things like this I think its perfectly fine but don’t get all hissy when others don’t view a competition that has a swimsuit with stilettos portion as a ‘love me for my mind’ kind of competition. I guess I just see life in a different light as with my priorities and I don't value competition in the form of appearance.

I just can't acknowledge this as an actual feat of accomplishment and don't get me started on child ones because I find their swimsuit portion disturbing.

Opinions or thoughts on pageants in general anyone?

Answer 1

Pageants these days are not merely pageants any longer. They have become tools for the owner of the pageants to make money at the expense of the contestants. Pageants are very commercialized these days, to make more money contestants are asked to parade themselves in sexy swimsuits and pose suggestively for pictures.

Many pageants associate themselves with charity works but in reality charities are only used as covers by the pageants owners to present positive image of their pageants and winners. The owners are actually more concern on the "hidden agenda" that is to maximize profit.

Due to this, the results are subject to manipulations. Good connections with the pageants owners and money will influence the results to a certain extent. For the contestants , to get favorable attentions, they resort to do things which they don't normally do and jealousy and bashing among contestants is nothing new.

Answer 2

I find the whole thing offensive. Why spend so much money on competing on beauty. If they are really competing on their brains they would be in a debating competition, not in a beauty contest that asks them a few general questions. If they are competing only on brains, they wouldn't need to bare themselves in the swimsuit category. I no longer watch beauty pageants. I find them ludicrous.

Answer 3

Pageants are all about sex.

If she wants to be appreciated for her mind, tell her to go on Jeopardy then...

Answer 4

i also think beauty pagents are silly, but a good friend of mine was in several during high school and i saw how much work and effort she put into it ...so i respected her for it... she did't go far, but it was important to her ...and she worked hard at it so hey who am i to judge... all of us were going out having fun and she was practicing whatever beauty pagent contestants practice ...so do i think they are silly yes for me....but not for everyone..

Answer 5

My opinion is this. One of my best friends growing up competed in pageants until she got too old. So though I've never been in one, I know quite a bit about the Miss America system. I know nothing about the Miss USA system. The reason they will tell you it's not a beauty pageant is because (at least about 10 years ago) the rating system was something along the lines of 40% interview, 35% talent competition, 15% Swimsuit competition, and 10% Evening Gown and on stage presence. My numbers could be a bit off or I could have something swapped. Sooo, they're saying it's a talent and interview competition. I will say that most of the girls I knew who did these won a good deal of scholarship money (it is a scholarship pageant), they also won a lot of evening gowns and tanning sessions. There was also a lot of obsessing over body fat, spray glue on the butt to keep bathing suits in place and crying.

I will say that it really can't be a true beauty pageant because a lot of the girls who win are far, far, far from beautiful. At the local level and the national level. I won't name names, but there have been some homely Miss Americas. They just clean up well. I have not, however, ever seen anything but a skinny girl win. But I could have missed that pageant. So beauty is counting for something. And their hair usually looks good.

I think if a girl wants to do it, she should compete. Most women, once they get a few years away from them, do not think the pageant experience improved their lives in any way and think it hurt their self esteem and would not let their daughters compete in them. But I am positive that there are plenty of women with oposite experiences.

Answer 6

I think that as long as the person competing in them is over the age of 18 then it's their choice. It's not something that I would want to be in but if it makes someone feel good about themselves then more power to them. As for child pageants, I think those are wrong. It should be illegal.

Answer 7

Have you seen the little kid pageants? They are more made up than some prostitutes. There is something so wrong about teased hair with highlights on a 4 year old. They even do suggestive songs and dance for a talent. Personally I think it should be outlawed as child abuse/endangerment. As for the older girls- you can't judge a persons brain when you're blinded by pushed out breasts and high heels that are designed to make you walk seductively. The real competition is to value yourself enough not to subject yourself to that kind of " sport".

Answer 8

Beauty Pageants celebrate womanhood as it should be - a celebration of feminine beauty and brains. I mean they dint just show their bodies, they also have to answer do-or-die questions.

And most importantly, they are always ambassadors of goodwill.

Answer 9

In my mind, pageants are pretty much more about beauty than brains. If it's an adult pageant I don't really have a problem with it. It's adults they're choosing to do this.
I have a problem with child beauty pageants though. I don't like the message the parent is sending the child.
A family friend is a photogapher. He has one client who is forcing her 2 year old into beauty pageants. The client brags about her child becoming a supermodel, movie star etc. one day. he told me that the 2 year old obviously doesn't like it because the 2 year old can't stay still and hates the camera.

Answer 10

i never did understand the purpose of them and i don't agree on getting an award for being the most "beautiful" .it teaches women (or men in some cases) that the most important thing in life is to be beautiful but that's jmho i don't hate them or anything and i'm not judging people for being in them (no pun intended)