Comments on: The Beauty Pageant Disease

By: Gopal.G

Gopal.G — Fri, 15 May 2009 12:03:40 +0000

Yes, you are 100% right. These beauty contests are more business-oriented where young girls quite unaware of the physical and emotional risks involved are jumping into the race. The modesty of the female is totally lost or ignored. It is for the responsible parents and teachers to advise the young minds on this. Gopal.Gs last blog post..Tabo Buddhist Monastery, India

By: Robin Easton

Robin Easton — Mon, 11 May 2009 01:17:57 +0000

I enjoyed this article very much. I do not watch beauty pageants and have no interest in them at all other than I see them as highly destructive and a product of a very ill culture. And what do they prove? Nothing for me. It is highly unlikely that the truly amazing women in the world, the women who change lives, move mountains, stop child abuse, stop the sex trade, save labor, feed the desperately starving.....will be found in beauty pageants. Not that have to be found there but still? What is the point. These kind of pageants are as empty to me as the articles you see titled: The World's Sexiests Man (Woman), or The World's Richest People. Rich is What? Money? Sexy in what way? Muscles, fake boobs, etc. For it is as meaningless as the dust that settles on my dining room table. I see it a symptom of illness, a reflection of our culture, a sign of oppression and control of women the world over. I choose to put my focus else where on the people and women in the world who touch my life in a profound way (like TT or Shirley of ProofPositivity, or so many other women I know on and off line and woman I will never meet but admire for their efforts to bring positive change into the world.) I let the rest go. Great article. Thank you. Robin Eastons last blog post..Do You Dream Music?

By: GreenCurmudgeon

GreenCurmudgeon — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:15:59 +0000

I think there needs to be some clarification – beauty pageants are a symptom, not the disease itself. However, both the symptoms and the disease should be treated.

Best Regards, GC

By: ladylyf

ladylyf — Wed, 06 May 2009 10:55:56 +0000

I wish i could say the problem is only with the beauty pageants but unfortunately, obsession with looks is a societal issue. In my former place of work, i was always sent out for new accounts. I thought this was because of my experience and qualifications and professionalism till one of the directors disabused me of that notion. He said my looks bring in more new accounts than my brain. I wish i could disagree with that but seeing as it was always men the company sent me to and very few of the men ever waited to hear my sales pitch, he was right. Imagine how that made me feel. And that was in the corporate world!
There’s is no doubt I have had preferential treatment a lot of times simply because of the way i look and sometimes i find myself falling back on my looks to get my way. I always have to consciously remind myself that I am more than a body and I should not allow societal shallowness dictate how i live.
Starting with beauty pageants is a good thing but the rot goes far deeper than that.

By: GreenCurmudgeon

GreenCurmudgeon — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:36:22 +0000

Melinda -

It’s difficult to imagine a situation in which your character wasn’t taken into account.

All the best, GC

By: Melinda

Melinda — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:01:36 +0000

I agree with the comment that there will always be beauty pageants–as long as there are beautiful women, there will be a market for this. I don’t believe we can change this; however, what I hope to see is even in the venue of ‘beauty pageants’ that more emphasis will be placed on substantive ‘inner’ qualities, as well as the ‘in your face’ physical ones.

It’s very tough for women–because the message around every corner is that physical appearance is such an important quality–this is drilled into our heads from the moment we understand that little girls are different from little boys. Even though women are often portrayed on television in high powered roles–yet it is never enough for the women to be strong and intelligent; they must be beautiful as well. Take Geena Davis, who played the Commander in Chief–she was beautiful first and foremost. And this is basically the same for every woman in a high powered role–she is also beautiful–and this is not true for men in such roles.

I have worked in an industry where I was judged 100% on my appearance (former exotic dancer and call girl) and it led me to believe that the only worth I had was physical. In fact, that really crippled me until only very recently. To tell you the truth, it has been great to get older–because I am judged more on the substance of my character these days than my physical appearance. It really has been a relief.

Melinda

Melindas last blog post..Planting Seeds of Hope