In a groundbreaking announcement on June 5, the Miss America organisation declared that it will no longer judge contestants on outward physical appearance and has decided to scrap the swimsuit round. In the wake of #MeToo and #TimesUp campaigns that aimed to discourage sexual abuse and encourage inclusivity and gender equality, this decision does gain huge meaning.

Beauty contests have for long been a subject of intense debate over what they do to the individuality - and commercialisation - of women. Many have raised eyebrows over how beauty contests objectify women by restricting individuals to the shape and size of their bodies. Many, including women, have opposed beauty contests, highlighting how these have led to women underestimating their self-worth, failing to realise the potential of the being who's housed in "sexy" bodies.

Pageants which often claim to judge women not just on physical beauty but brains too propagate an ‘idealized beauty’ which for normal women is hard to achieve. In this desire to achieve the tall standards of beauty, contestants are known to ‘fix’ almost every flaw that they are unhappy about or feel will hinder their chances. It is not strange to see Asian contestants with features as refined as their Caucasian counterparts. Also their impact on body image issues, self-esteem and self-worth of particularly adolescent girls cannot be overlooked.

From a young age we are taught not to judge people by what they look like, but who they are -- the idea behind beauty pageants goes directly against this idea. Over the course of history, women have struggled for equal rights, yet oddly enough events completely opposite and as superficial as pageants still exist.

Pageants are bad news; a show that focuses on judging women on the shallow and seemingly arbitrary physical standards can do no good. There is nothing empowering about it.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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