This article got me thinking that I should go ahead and voice my opinion of beauty pageants, especially since I've been asked before on this topic. Okay, let's go ahead and make this official:
Q: What do you think of beauty pageants? - from several questioners
A: To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about beauty pageants. Granted, the winners end up getting college scholarships for the most part, but for doing what, exactly? Given the term "beauty" pageant, one must assume that the winner is more beautiful than the rest, but c'mon! The idea and concept of "beauty" is very subjective - "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and all that.
And also consider that all of these beauty queens - all of them! - are made up to look that way. Maked-up to no end, enough hair spray for one pageant than most of us would probably use in a lifetime, not to mention the plastic surgery and boob jobs and so forth that sometimes is done, and tape to create cleavage and to hold articles of clothing in place (no 'wardrobe malfunctions' for these ladies!) makes for some very artificial women. Heck, if we really wanted to judge their beauty, let's see how good they look without all that makeup, hair spray, surgery, tape, etc. If they still look attractive, they win!
My main concern is the message that beauty pageants seem to send to young girls. Sincerely without trying to sound snide, the message seems to be "You are a piece of meat, and how well you decorate yourself and perform for the judges will determine the winner." I wouldn't go so far as to say that they are whoring themselves, but still, with all that women have accomplished in recent decades, the idea and concept of "beauty" pageants seems not only outdated but archaic. We are now doctors, lawyers, college professors, engineers, military leaders, CEOs, and so forth, so in contrast with these women of accomplishment, beauty pageant contestants seem almost an insult.
Even though it sounds like I'm totally opposed to beauty pageants, I'm not there. Not yet anyway, but I'm close. They are being given college scholarships after all, and not being whored off as prizes to men of privilege and wealth. So in short, I guess you might say that when it comes to beauty pageants, I'm agnostic; that is, not fully there as far as being a non-believer, but that my doubts outnumber the benefits that I believe that beauty pageant contestants gain from being in those pageants. I hope that makes sense.
No comments:
Post a Comment