How many of us look in the mirror each morning and are happy with every inch of who we are? I can honestly say that I do not, and I know why; the media is always telling us that we are not skinny or pretty enough or our skin is not the right tone … but let me tell you this -> no one is perfect, yet knowing this we still let the media cloud our judgement. At the end of EVERY summer we Americans turn on the TV to watch the Miss America Beauty Pageant (it came on this past weekend). I personally do not watch it, but I know that there are people out there that plan out their day to make sure they can, but what for? What purpose does this beauty pageant serve? I know that this particular pageant is to help the girls further their education by offering them a scholarship and they must also do community service. I am sure that the pageant opens up many doors of opportunity for the contestants as well, but how do they even pick Miss America? It should not be about how you look! If anyone wants to further their education they should be offered the opportunity! Beauty is only skin deep, you will only get to know someone if you dig beneath the surface. You do not know someone’s story unless you take the time to ask AND take the time to listen.
That is NOT what an average woman looks like! Those women in the pageants are a misrepresentation of who the American woman is. Granted that there are variations among women, we all come in different shapes and sizes but that is not reflected in the pageant’s contestants. There comes a point when all the contestants LOOK EXACTLY THE SAME, they all have that SAME “cookie cutter” body. What message do these images send to our children? I'll tell you: to some degree the young girls watching this will start to internalize those images and start to believe that they too need to look like that. We should be telling our kids to celebrate who they are and to love their uniqueness. Beauty is what WE make it!
So how in the world do they actually pick the pageant winner?!?! Well I decided to take a look at how they score the girls. The composite score is 30%. Next we have a whole 20% in the “Lifestyle and fitness in swimsuit” and a 20% in “evening wear,” sorry to break it to you but … how you look in a swimsuit does not tell me much about your lifestyle or fitness, and ANYONE looks good in an evening gown, so what does this prove? Then there is a whole 30% for the “Talent” portion, now looking at the talents that the girls decide to display are mostly singing or some form of dancing, but occasionally you will get the out of the norm talent. However I fail to see how this shows that the contestant deserves the scholarship or is capable of serving the community.
I want to make it clear that I am not hating on the girls that are competing in these types of competitions. I am well aware that there is more to a person than meets the eye, if you have not read my past post about Eye Candy check it out. Which brings me to my next point, the girls are asked one question on stage… only ONE question. Most of the time these questions are generic, and do not allow the contestant to display the full extent of their intelligence. This scholarship is for the women to further their education. How are we supposed to learn about the contestant if the question does not challenge them? Not to mention that the onstage question is not even a part of the final score, so what is the point?!?! Please tell me because I don’t have a clue!
The only reason these types of competitions exists is because they need money to do whatever it is they do, so they put on a big show. Why is it that we have to put on a “show” to raise the funds for a scholarship, and community service? Everyone has the obligation to go out and do something for their town. Companies should be willing to donate money to help out their community, unfortunately this is not the case and sex sells! The companies that give the money up want something in return, so they get a show. Furthermore, is beauty something that can be measured and defined? Who decides? You decide, every morning when YOU wake up you have the choice to love what you see or hate it.
I have learned to love myself no matter what. I may not be happy with every inch of myself when I wake up, but I make it a point to love myself before I go to bed. Beauty is not about what you can change about yourself, however, it is about how you embrace the person you are in the inside as well as the outside.
~Be beautiful.
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