When the term “beauty pageant” comes up, many people automatically think of the sparkly crowns, fancy dresses, and big smiles. While all of these things are key parts of a pageant, that is not all that there is to them. Originally, beauty pageants were held for entertainment where women were displayed and judged for paying audiences. The purpose of the event was to select and exhibit the “handsomest ladies in America” (Roberts). However, from the first pageant in 1854, pageants now have a much more well-rounded criteria for their contestants, more than just looking pretty on stage. Currently, the most weighted competitions in pageants are the interview and onstage questions. Within pageants there is a large focus on building self-confidence and embracing oneself. Even with the focus on personality, many people today still believe that pageants are focused on strictly looks and objectifying women which causes many people to think pageants are harmful towards a woman’s confidence. While many articles claim that pageants are objectifying towards women, there is far more research supporting their ability to do just the opposite - empower women. 

Many pageant organizations have a key focus on empowering women. In the Miss Universe Organization mission statement it says that their goal is to “empower women to develop the confidence they need to achieve their personal best” (Miss Universe Website). Empowerment is defined as the process of becoming stronger and more confident according to the Merriam - Webster Dictionary.Their goal is to give these women confidence in themselves, and to change the face of pageants from one of beauty to one of personality. Their hopes are that these women will learn from the pageants and can grow up to be smart, independent, and empowered. Miss America mission statement also mentions their goal to “empower women across the nation” (Miss America Website). Empowerment is defined as the process of becoming stronger and more confident according to the Merriam - Webster Dictionary. While a mission statement may seem like just words, the organizations really put an emphasis on the statements throughout all competitions, both preliminary and final, to constantly remind the women why they are there. The purpose of the competition is for the women to strive to accomplish the mission statement with the help of encouragement from each other. With these and many other pageant organizations of women with the goal of building girls’ confidence, it is easy to see there is so much more behind the contestants of beauty pageants than strictly just their beauty. 

One of the common misconceptions about beauty pageants is that they, and all of the contestants, are superficial; meaning that the competitions and women lack depth and have no true substance to them. When a beauty pageant comes to mind most people think of the classic competitions filled with girls competing over who looks the prettiest on the stage, and who has the best dress. They picture a young, beautiful woman walking across a stage in a long gown who proceeds to get asked a question where her answer is some variation of world peace. Although these are both portions of the competition, people tend to “assume the lack of depth that there is behind pageants” (Banet- Weiser). What people do not realize is that the women in pageants prepare for those five minutes on stage, those two questions, for months before the competition. Pageant contestants spend hours researching current events and issues in the world so that they are able to provide an educated answer to the judges’ questions. The women spend an abundance of their time with coaches learning how to handle surprise questions with grace and poise, as well as being able to speak proficiently in front of a big audience. There are also preliminary competitions held before the main competition which can last for a week at minimum. All of this time and preparation shows that behind a beauty pageant is “many hours of practice, rehearsal, and preparation” (Banet- Weiser). There is much more to pageants than just shopping for the best dress and teeth whitening. 

A beauty pageant consists of various portions. The contestants get judged based on so much more than just their looks. In most pageants there is an interview part, and an onstage question or two. As well, there is the talent, formal wear, and swimsuit competitions. In order for a contestant to successfully approach the pageant, she must be able to “perform highly in all aspects” (Miss Universe Website). These varying competitions not only show how well-rounded a contestant is, however, they also are able to help the contestants to become their personal best. Through practicing staying poised while answering questions in front of an audience and being able to hold interviews, whether they be one on one or in front of a panel, the contestants have the opportunity to gain useful life skills. While practicing for interviews and participating in them throughout the preliminary and final competitions, women are able to improve upon how they interview, hold their composure under pressure, and speak publicly. Pageant organizations strive to help women gain skills that will be useful in the professional world.

Although the interviews and onstage questions have the most weight in a contestants score, the formal wear, talent, and swimsuit competitions, also known as life style portions, are all a key component in beauty pageants. While it may seem superficial to put on an expensive gown or small bathing suit and walk across a stage while being judged, it truly can be beneficial to the contestants. It is a wonderful way to learn how to be comfortable in one’s own skin and learn to love the way you look. According to Miss Alaska 2016, “the confidence booster was huge!” (Chestang). Also, in the environment of a pageant all of the women are in the same boat and help to encourage each other and build each other’s confidence up. The talent competition also gives contestants a chance to show off what they believe to be best at. This allows for contestants to gain self-confidence, being that it is the talent competition, which shows the most individuality and showcases something each woman truly loves doing. Not only do these competitions help gain one’s self confidence but they also help to inspire others to love themselves and who they are as a person.

Pageant organizations, such as the Miss America Organization, also often promote the importance of receiving an education. The Miss America Organization is not only the “leading advocate for women’s education” (Miss America Website) in the nation, but also the “largest provider of scholarship assistance” (Miss America Website). Pageants find value in giving young women assistance in their studies since it allows them to further their goals and to become leaders amongst the world. Many pageants also require a contestant to provide their most recent transcript when applying and submitting résumés. Most contestants that are chosen to participate in large scale pageants are often women with high levels of education and their transcripts reflect it. These educations are shown through the on stage question and interview portions of the competitions. Many of the questions proposed to the contestants have to do with current national and even global events and issues. The contestant then must give an educated, poised answer showing that she is knowledgeable of the events happening in the world around her. Even though pageants are very involved in promoting education for young women, not everyone realizes this since it is not always as clear as the life style portions of the pageants. 

The swimsuit portion of the competition is one of the largest concerns to people who are against beauty pageants. There is a concern that there are negative side effects related to this competition such as body image issues and that it could possibly promote eating disorders. People think that the swimsuit competition “forces girls to feel the need to fall under an ideal body image” (Roberts) and that they need to be very thin in order to walk on a stage in just a bathing suit. People who view this portion of a beauty pageant and see all of the in-shape, fit bodies of the contestants may feel insecure about their own if they do not look that way. Also, with music videos such as “Pretty Hurts” by Beyonce that portray a beauty pageant in a negative way it causes the many viewers to think that portrayal of pageant contestants is how they all are. In the music video, there are numerous eating disorders shown, such as eating cotton balls, which the contestants in the video are doing as a replacement to eating in order to look their best. When pageants are portrayed in this manner at such a large scale it causes people who are not familiar with the pageant world to assume that this is how pageants and all of the contestants are and these are the negative repercussions they cause. 

Many people think that pageants exploit women and degrade them, especially young girls in pageants. When people who are unfamiliar with pageants see women and girls walking around a stage with swimsuits and pretty gowns on to compete for a ‘beauty’ pageant, the true purpose of pageants can be lost. A typical reason for disagreement with pageants is that they are “degrading women by making them compete based off their looks” (Roberts) for a crown. Many people who do not support pageants believe that the women are “catty and hateful” (APA Task Force) towards other contestants, when in reality many contestants become friends with and support each other throughout all aspects of the competitions. Even though a woman wants to win the pageant, of course, they also form bonds with the other contestants and hope the best for them as well.

Pageant organizations are doing what they can to make sure that their contestants still feel confident and not exploited while competing. In response to many people fighting against the swimsuit competition of pageants, Miss Teen USA in June of 2016 decided to change the swimsuit competition to an athleisure competition. Now, the teen contestants will compete in athletic wear as opposed to bathing suits. This change was made to help “promote healthy living among the contestants and viewers” (USA Today). The Miss USA Organization making its change for the younger contestants shows that pageants are not for the exploitation of women, but to help for them to build their confidence starting at a young age. 

 While Miss USA was the first organization to remove the swimsuit competition and replace it with an athleisure portion instead for their younger contestants, they did not remove it for their older divisions. Many feminist were happy with this change and hopeful that other organizations would soon follow. However, organizations such as the Miss America Organization say that the swimsuit competition is here to stay. Sam Haskell, executive chairman of the organization, says that the swimsuit competition is “part of the tradition” (Chestang) of the Miss America Organization. The organization says that it is to “show how physically fit our contestants are” (Chestang). Contestants in pageants work hard and prepare for pageants even in health aspects of their life prior to competing. This portion of the competition allows for the women to show off their hard work and feel confident in their own skin no matter what they look like. The swimsuit competition is not meant to exploit the women, rather it is meant to appreciate their high levels of fitness and self-confidence. 

In today’s world there are various feminist movements happening. Many feminists put a large emphasis on the basis that “we as women need to stick together”(Banet- Weiser) and that “there will be no progress if women are pitted against each other” (Banet- Weiser); meaning that, if women want to gain strength in society that they need to build each other up and not tear each other apart. With beauty pageants being a competition of women with a single winner, many people assume that there is no support amongst the contestants. While in the end the pageant is a competition and each contestant wants to win, they also want to help the other contestants become the best person they can be. Throughout the months leading up to a pageant the contestants all participate in numerous events together from charity work to relay races. All of these activities bring the girls closer making them “some of the best friends” (Miss Nevada 2015) that a woman can make. The pageant organizations encourage the contestants to become friends so that during the competition they are all “excited for each other” (Larson) and not just focusing on themselves. Pageants teach the women that “even without the crown and sash, nothing is stopping them from inspiring others and making a difference” (National American Miss Website). With pageants still being a competition with a single winner, it allows for contestants to learn to be confident in who they are as a woman even if they do not walk away with the winning title.

A common goal amongst beauty pageants is to encourage self-confidence. Many current state queens in the United States say how pageants are such a huge “confidence builder” (Miss Alaska 2016) and that “there is no better way to gain self-confidence” (Miss Alaska 2016). A key goal of pageant organizations is to provide girls with the tools needed to gain self-confidence and become the best version of themselves they can be. Through pageant organizations providing numerous young women the opportunity to gain many applicable life skills, such as interview experience and poise, help with getting a higher education through scholarships and by building their self-confidence, pageants provide empowerment and strengthen ambition for many young women. Although many people think that pageants are superficial and have negative effects on women, they are actually very focused on self-empowerment and confidence. Through the help of beauty pageants, many women are able to become more self-assured and confident that they are able to do anything they put their minds to, no matter what they may look like, all while inspiring others to do the same.
