Beauty Pageants - Allure or Absurdity?

The Miss World Pageant was held last month I think... with a lot of hype, lot of advertisements and panache which is always the case in such events. Do such beauty pageants really exhibit beauty? Are they played on a level playing field? Is the purpose of such pageants to show the world how many beautiful women/girls (at times!) there are?

According to Wikipedia.. the free online encyclopedia..

"A beauty contest, or beauty pageant, is a competition based largely, though not always entirely, on the physical beauty of its contestants."

I think we can remove that little bit in the centre 'not always entirely'. To call such an 'event' a 'competition' is funny! What is a competition? A competition in my opinion is something wherein talents and perseverance are tested to the largest possible extent. Intelligence, athleticism, bravery even are attributes which can be tested and compared not because an individual needs these to live life.. but because most of us are not born with such attributes. What about physical beauty though? Can an unattractive person wake up all of a sudden in the morning and look attractive? Obviously not!

So, comparing physical beauty is seriously demeaning to women. Surely they would have more pride won't they? What then, is the ulterior motive of such pageants and what attracts women/girls to participate in them? It's really a 5 letter word that rules all... MONEY.

The Miss World Pageant gets television viewership to the tune of 2 billion people.. convert that to dollars, it will be billions and billions of them. The 'charitable organization' then donates 250 million dollars (wow, whopping amount!) to charities. This was only really started after 1996, when major protests threatened the 'competition' from going ahead in Bangalore, India. The Miss World Organization does not disclose financial results to the public.. I wonder why?! The Miss Universe Organization is owned by NBC and The Trump Organization. Why do corporates have to run the show if the real purpose of such pageants is to showcase beauty?

There are very few rounds which actually test the intelligence of the participants. Importance is given to swimsuit rounds and rounds where the participants wear night gowns and all that... How can these pageants even claim to judge the contestants on aspects other than physical beauty?

What do these pageants ultimately do for our society? They create a totally wrong image about beauty. Girls and boys alike would probably feel insecure about their looks, and spend tonnes and tonnes of money on cosmetics. They aren't going to enhance a thing, so again cosmetic companies gain! In India, if you win the Miss World or Universe competitions... even Miss India for that matter - your future is pretty much in the Bollywood Film Industry. Not in the place where 'They would want to help the society, the children and all the handicapped people in the world' (The answer we often get in the final round of these pageants when they're asked.. 'what do you want to do for the society?')

Ultimately, beauty pageants defeat the real meaning of beauty. They create a massive divide in our society and attempt to classify human beings on not talent, but what we have the least control over - our looks. They create huge revenues for a variety of industries and claim that they donate 'massive amounts' of money to charities. They create an endless list of models, who are really just used by corporates to promote products and directors to make item numbers in movies. They really degrade the status of women in the name of enhancing it!

The future of Beauty Pageants is good.. unfortunately. Beauty pageants at one time weren't even televised on British Television until 1998, due to the sheer lack of interest of the public. In countries like India and Venezuela though, these pageants will be very closely watched if not, justified. No one can learn how to be physically beautiful, and as long as that fact is not understood - these pageants will suck out the very virtues upon which our society is built upon.