Beauty Pageants Debate

A cattle show, hehehe. :D I anticipated in my mind that this would be the main response. I agree there are better ways for women to showcase things like charity work but when you're dealing with a patriarchial culture, it's a good way to start.

For example, Colombia - which has the same machoist ideals in its culture as most of Southern Europe - has more beauty pageants probably than the whole Balkans combined. These started around the same time women's rights started... there's no way for me to know for sure, but I think they are linked. :D

Yes, but for me that is the start of women's rights. When you go from being... nothing, property... to being something independently valued, for whatever reason, that is huge change in the thought process of the society as it relates to women.

I think this is reflected because the pageants were, until very recently, all "Miss". You couldn't be a "Mrs." and compete, you couldn't have children, all of these things still meant you were someone else's property, someone else's private belonging - whereas "Miss" meant you were available, you weren't purchased yet, etc.

Now I don't think beauty pageants are going to get you into MENSA, or to be President, I'm not that... weird... but I do think they played a huge role in the initial development of women's rights. And even today, women are valued tremendously simply for their physical attributes - so it still has some power.

Take for example Miss Bosnia 2003, Irna Smaka. Before that, she was just another university student from rural Bosnia trying to find her way in Sarajevo. After it, now she's the chief executive officer of her hometown, basically the mayor's assistant. That would never have happened for her otherwise, it would be a man in that position. But because the whole town was so proud their little Irna won Miss Bosnia, she has free reign to stick herself into roles traditionally excluding women.

Now that was her difference. The little girls in Kakanj growing up today, and more importantly the little boys, will see that there is a woman CEO - they don't know how she got there, even they did they'd not truly understand it. So for them a woman in such a high-ranking position is normal.

I think this is the type of differences they can still make today, but it's extremely rare. I give them credit mainly for giving women a value independent of their men.

As I said, it's the first time they were valued not for being Mrs. but for being Miss.

 i agree with Dawns views

Edited by Scorpian - 18-May-2006 at 04:21

Well, my opinion is that beauty pageants degrade and exploit women. I cannot understand how anyone can "save the world" by showing how good they look wearing a bathing suit or how well they can recite their speeches, or say what they know the judges want to hear. Men are usually the ones who produce said pageants (and we all know what they think with), and, of course, it's a great way to get a large viewing male audience. However, even though I don't agree with beauty pageants, I don't condemn them, and all those who want to watch or participate in them certainly have a right to do so. The women participating in the beauty pageants get lots of "perks" and exposure, and if it will help any one of them further their careers, then more power to them! BRAVO!

    

Edited by morticia - 19-May-2006 at 13:58