Beauty Competitions, or as some people call them Beauty pageants degrade women to

mere objects. Such a competition is the exploitation of women by men and other women.
If the beauty competition was based on skill or ability, that would be fine. But nowadays
people judge them for their outer appearance.

No two persons can agree on what beauty is. That is why people get this mistaken at
beauty pageants. They only see one beauty that every contestant must have. They have to
have a certain height requirement, clear, radiant skin, perfect size breast and figure. This
is one reason why pageants are very degrading towards women who may not fit in that
category. They see that as an insult toward them. The women contemplate that the
models they see in beauty pageants are the so called perfect body for this country, when
in reality they are not. There are different types of beauty here. The old saying goes;
beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In other words, someone or something that is
considered attractive to one person may not necessarily appeal to another, as I said
before. In my opinion, the prize of the Beauty Queen in one competition is unfair because
they set unrealistic beauty standards for an audience of easily influenced young girls, they
encouraging judging on appearance, rather than on a person’s character, and mainly
because they objectify

Beauty contests are harmful. It teaches children the worth of a person is almost solely
based on appearance. They increase dieting, eating disorders, and lowers their self esteem
causing them to feel simply inaccurate and ugly. These contests objectify women.

They have so much pressure put on them and they will either grow up feeling that they
are ugly and will never be good enough or believing that they are some sort of royalty and
acting like snobs. Just watch "Toddlers and Tiaras" on TLC when the girls are getting ready
and you'll see that it hurts to put on fake lashes and fake hair etc. Plus they could end up
anorexic and getting plastic surgery and going on unnecessary diets, which by the way is
unhealthy. They either break you down or make you into a mean, snobby, horrible person.

Beauty pageants are degrading and harmful to women and children. They turn women
into objects to be used and played with. They make the women that don't make it through
feel bad about their looks and make even those the do get through feel like they still have
to do something to look prettier. Beauty pageants also set false standards about how
beautiful women are supposed to look. So just because a woman is thin and "health?"
With certain looks makes them beautiful? Women that are thick or big can't be pretty or
beautiful? Some say that beauty is only skin deep, well it isn't, a person can have a
beautiful soul. A beautiful man or woman can be either kind or horrible. Someone who
isn't attractive can have a beautiful soul or an ugly one. In beauty pageants beauty is only
skin deep, and it puts others down.

Another perception issue arises from the very nature of beauty contests—the
objectification of women. Despite proclaimed gender equality, physical attractiveness
(including sexual) remains one of the major requirements for women today (FAR). No
matter how progressive and tolerant people strive to be, they still make their first
impression about other people by their appearance, and this is natural. However, the idea
of beauty contests implies evaluating women solely on their physical shape, ignoring all
other aspects of individuality. Interviewing, meant to show a contestants personality, is a
fraud; as one of the former pageants wrote, none of the judges wanted to hear about
deep problems, asking about the most challenging childhood experiences (Generation
Progress). This turns a woman into a media object, or even a product, that can be
assessed and then either approved or rejected; due to the popularity of beauty contests,
such an attitude is being widely propagated.

The idea of beauty contests implies competing in physical attractiveness. Ignoring the
absurdity of this idea, a number of detrimental effects caused by such contests still needs
to be emphasized. Beauty contests set unrealistic standards of beauty, which lower
women’s self-esteem and increase the demands of men for their wives or girlfriends.
Beauty contests objectify women, turning them into a product that can be assessed based
solely on its appearance. In addition, beauty pageants influence the minds of adolescents,
often resulting in anorexia and other psychological disorders.