Philosophical Aspect of Beauty Pageants

The entire process of choosing the winner of the beauty pageant involves a step by step  analysis and reassessment of each candidate.  With so many beauty pageants like the Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss Asia, Mr Universe, Mr World, Mr Asia, Miss International and so on and so forth, they could easily be categorized as the Olympics of Beauty, an analysis needs to be made of the contest itself.

Each contest entails the participation of hundreds of contestants al over the world. As a result each contest has its own organization body.  There is a period of time when the contest is held so arrangements and management over that period needs to be made. The final event is telecast live all over the world to million and hence the event should be held with immaculate way. They even have their own website today; like the http://www.missuniverse.com and http://www.themissworld.com. Today people can vote online from any part of the world using the internet so as to choose their favorite and this is also accounted for in the rankings of the contestant. The contestants on their part have learnt to focus on topics creating world interest and often answer readily for the routine questions. They learn a lot staying with different kind of people and receive training in etiquette and personality, which many times can lead to a growth or a change in their own professional and personal lives.

Taking all this effort, does it lead to exploitation of the organizers, the contestants or for the contest itself. There are minor arguments and people demonstrating to prove their points over social and political issues taking the contest as a platform where participants from all over the world are present. Do they try to exploit the contest? The contestants are faced with having to living with complete strangers and adjusting with them as they face the cameras and have to maintain the personality. As a result many may undergo stress and find it unable to cope with it. Are they being exploited? The contestants answer questions about some social issues they many be completely unaware. Are the issues being exploited? When we look at the bigger purpose of the contest itself, we find that this is not so. Some bias may exist at some point or the other. But the contest with such a long history of more than fifty years has learnt to overcome many of the hurdles and today we have more than a hundred countries participating in it. There are now instances when a black contestant represents a white country and likewise. Importance is also lead to the professional background of the participant. They come from diverse fields and have even more diverse ambitions. There are more contestants who can speak English now than before. The increased dedication on their part is proof enough to show that the competitions are going in the right direction. Experiments with various different forms of presentations is carried out like dress code, makeup and hairdos. This helps in setting up trends in fashion in the following year.

It has also helped clear some misconceptions. The most winner beauties are from countries like India and Venezeula , countries considered third world countries , thus defying the myth that only developed nations have world class winners. Some beauties have changed the definition of beauty in their own country, like Persis Khambatta, the Indian beauty who shaved off her entire head for a English film.