They are objectified by having to look a certain way and have a certain body type. These beautiful women have to have the perfect hair and make-up to be appealing to those who are judging them. I believe these women can compete for the scholarships without having to look like barbie dolls and wear swim suits. I don't believe any man would have to expose themselves as much as these women do.
The winner of Miss America 2013, Nina Davuluri, was the first title holder of Indian American descent was mistakenly thought to be of Middle Eastern origin. She is also an aspiring physician from New York. After the announcement, there were immediate racist jokes on twitter and other social media. Vanessa Williams, the first African American Miss America, reached out to her in support. Ms. Williams also went through a tumultuous time due to her race after she won.
I believe future pageants should not include swimsuit competitions. Women should not have to be sexual objects in order to win scholarships. Ms. Davuluri's platform is "Celebrating Diversity Through Cultural Competency." This is a social media campaign to promote multiculturalism and civil discourse. This platform will contribute to educating people about the issues of inequity, racism and sexism.
I love this post. The reason being even though the woman in the pageants are beautiful it makes the very influential children feel this is how they are supposed to look to even get recognized. This lowers their self-esteem if they don't have a mind of their own. I am like you I feel that anyone should be able to participate.
ReplyDeleteHi Mary,
ReplyDeleteYour blog was very interesting. I guess I had not ever given much thought to the beauty pageant as being discriminatory or being subjected to being "sex objects" because each one of those young ladies or women chose to be in the pageant. However I do agree with you that the beauty pageants are sexist and in my opinion very demeaning. Some of these young ladies and women are engaged in such activities in their early childhood and so the lifestyle of the beauty pageant contestant becomes a part of who they are. In my opinion they choose to be subjected to the intense scrutiny of the judges in their skimpy swimsuits when they decide to participate in the beauty pageant in the first place. It is their choice to participate in those competitions which demand that they look a certain way and expose their body the way that they do. I quit watching the beauty pageants a long time ago because I was offended by the inappropriate actions and greed I saw from the "before the pageant" scenes. There are many other ways to earn scholarships rather than to choose to participate is such a display of sexism and greed.
I agree Floranne some of these women understand and still choose to be subjected to this scrutiny. The current Miss America told everyone she was in it for the money to pay for her medical school education. Some believe it is easy not realizing the implications being a part of this show has for young girls.
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