10/04/2024
Reading negative comments about pageants irritates me. Yet I always feel the need to defend them to those who are usually deliberately ignorant about pageantry, basing assumptions on stereotypes.
Think about THIS:
• We have modeling competitions on TV (America's Next Top Model, She's Got the Look, etc.)
• We have talent competitions on TV (America's Got Talent, The Voice, Idols, etc.)
• We have competitions based on knowledge and intellect (the Weakest Link, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, etc.)
• We even have dating shows (Bachelor/Bachelorette, etc.) where a certain body type is really the only type of “contestant”.
• And we can have random reality TV competitions of all flavors (Survivor, The Amazing Race, Biggest Loser, etc.)
But for some reason, when you have a competition that is based on intellect, fitness, beauty, style, poise AND interview/public speaking... NOW IT IS A PROBLEM?!? Suddenly it's sexist and objectifying women!? Suddenly it's outdated and irrelevant!?
A lot of people like labeling pageants as sexist and objectifying, yet there is little outcry about modeling competitions, fitness
competitions, bodybuilding competitions or other such competitions. So wait... is it really just the fact that it's multiple things COMBINED? If we separated them out into individual shows, it seems no one would mind. Yet just because they're all part of ONE competition, people lose their minds?
So perhaps the REAL sexism lies in the fact that some people can't possibly celebrate women who are both beautiful AND intelligent. Fit AND talented. The minute someone does, it's apparently degrading and objectifying; it's irrelevant and outdated; and most of all, it's somehow sexist. Maybe these individuals are the ones with a skewed perspective because they are unwilling to accept that women can be ALL of these exceptional things?
No, it simply must be one or the other to the uninformed.
Those who are offended or outraged over pageants obviously buy into the negative imagery and stereotypes of pageantry without looking at the actual pageant, the process, the volunteers and especially the quality of the queens and court (because if they knew how much of a difference these queens make in their communities, maybe they would not be so quick to criticize). These ladies love public speaking, modeling, volunteer service and also love fashion and beauty. And after all, aren’t those multi-billion-dollar industries?
So thank you, to some pageants and pageant competitors, for refusing to buy into the stereotype that women can only have only one skill or ability. Thank you for refusing to put women in a box. Thank you for recognizing that women can be multi-faceted and multi-talented AND beautiful and intelligent simultaneously. Thank you to the great pageants which are based on style, success, brains AND service...not just one. And thank you for giving women, and those I coach and work with, a chance to display all of their various facets and talents in life.
***I am not sure who the author is, but this is so well stated!!!!! OMT Pageants made a few very minor adjustments to the original statement, but the sentiment at large is the same.