Beauty contest

A beauty contest, or beauty pageant, is a competition between people, based largely, though not always entirely, on the beauty of their physical appearance. Almost invariably, competitions for men and women are separate events, and those for men are not referred to as beauty contests except derogatorily. Those for women are more common; for an example of a male beauty contest, see Mr. Universe. There are also beauty contests for children; they are controversial, in particular if the term "sexy" is used and/or the children (mostly females) are dressed in no more than a swimsuit or frilly dresses. The term "prosti-tot" came into being after the still unsolved murder of JonBenét Ramsey. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2941472.stm

Beauty contests and politics

Many feminists regard beauty contests for women as degrading to females in general, as well as to the women who compete in them. A common comparison made by feminists is that beauty contests are like a cattle market for women. They have particularly objected to swimsuit rounds in competitions, where the contestants parade dressed only in swimsuits and high heeled shoes. Partly because of this, beauty contests have declined in popularity in many countries since their peak in the 1960s.

Related Topics:
Feminist - Swimsuit - High heeled shoes - 1960

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The contests are highly controversial and regularly attract demonstrators. An extreme example is the 2002 Miss World contest, which was held in Nigeria, the country of the 2001 winner, until mass riots which killed 200 and a fatwa against a female journalist caused the organizers to move it to London.

Related Topics:
2002 - Nigeria - 2001 - Fatwa - London

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Many national 'Miss' pageants have come under heavy criticism and have been the subjects of direct action. Miss New Zealand was no longer televised in the early 2000s as a result of falling public interest, although it had once been very popular. There were also high-profile complaints against the Miss America contest in the late 1960s. In contrast, pageants in some cultures, such as Latin America, are the subject of less criticism.

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