By: Katie Borders

Opinion Editor

Beauty pageants have been around for over a hundred years, originally objectifying women as a form of advertising to lure people in for sales. Subject to much controversy over the years, many people defend beauty pageants, insisting that they are changing with the modern times, becoming more focused on skill sets and intelligence instead of only beauty. However, beauty pageants remain problematic due to their continuance of sexism within society, promotion of false and unattainable beauty standards, and their negative effects on contestants’ mental health.

Beauty pageants are notorious for their origins and preservation of sexism within the entertainment industry.  The Peak, a student newspaper at SFU, describes how in beauty pageants’ swimwear events, “contestants are expected to wear revealing bikinis … on a stage and perform a 360° spin for the panel of judges to see and evaluate.” Although some beauty pageants, like Miss America, have removed these degrading swimwear events, the majority of beauty pageants, including Miss USA and Miss Universe, continue to hold them as of 2023. These swimwear events objectify women, putting them on display to be judged for what their bodies look like, and contestants’ bodies are usually scored based on their fitness and size. According to SSRN, these problematic beauty pageant events “[enlarge] the already existing gap and discrimination” between men and women. Though beauty pageant categories have been expanded to include physique, performance, communication skills, modeling, beauty, and gowns, a disappointing correlation is evident between these categories: female contestants are being judged on their appearances, how they walk, and their charm and charisma when being interviewed. Although seemingly “changing” when one looks at the categories contestants are tested in, many continue to objectify women and favor characteristics stereotypically seen as feminine. 

Additionally, beauty pageants are known to influence and promote impossible, unhealthy beauty standards. Beauty pageants’ award categories include “best outfit, best smile, best personality [and] congeniality,” with the overall winner being given the title of “beauty queen.” The shallow structure of beauty pageants sets the stage for unrealistic beauty standards, ranking women on a stereotypical definition of feminine beauty. They normalize the idea that to be beautiful, women need to wear lots of makeup, don revealing clothing, and have a certain body type: curvy and skinny. 

To add, not only do beauty pageants foster harmful beauty standards, but they also are detrimental to many contestants’ mental health. Research at West Virginia University explains that the competitive atmosphere can “trigger comparisons, body disconformity, anxiety and other mental disorders.” The National Library of Medicine claims that “over one-fourth of [beauty pageant competitors] had been told or perceived they had an eating disorder which reportedly began at 16.25 years.”

Beauty pageants, although widely defended, contribute to the continuance of stereotypical female attributes. They set unrealistic beauty standards and are a cause of multiple mental health issues in contestants. One thing is very clear: beauty pageants need to make big changes if they are to continue and not become a part of the past.

(Sources: Dani Walker, EduBirdie, ehow, National Library of Medicine, PBS, SSRN, The Daily Universe, The Peak, Wikipedia)