Beauty pageant is a competition in which women are judged on how physically attractive they are, as defined by Cambridge Dictionary. There are numerous beauty pageants that happen each year around the world. The Philippines’s most known beauty pageants are the Binibining Pilipinas, Miss Philippines Earth, and Mutya ng Pilipinas. In fact, Philippines is known for being the number one beauty pageant in the world as it dominates the world beauty pageants.
International beauty pageants like Victoria Secret and Asia’s Next Top Model are some of the pageants that the people subscribe to. But are these pageants made to boost one’s self esteem or are these made to belittle other people’s beauty? The main goal of a beauty pageant is to help a person build confidence. Thus, a person is able to portray herself in front of the judges and the audience. However, there are times that beauty pageants destroy one’s confidence. Of course, everyone wants to be accepted. It is a big slap on the face when a girl is judged and be told that she is not the most attractive. This can hurt her feelings, as well as her ego.
Another benefit of a beauty pageant is that it teaches discipline. Undergoing certain diet, doing practices, exercising the mind, and other things that is required for the preparation is done by the contestants. In this kind of competition, women also build character. Whether they win or they lose, they should have sportsmanship and show this to the audience with grace and poise.
The contestants are able to show humility as well. However, there are times that competition goes out of hand. These beauty pageants promote unhealthy ideals.
There are contestants who are no longer themselves just because they want to be the next prettiest winner. Thus, there are contestants who suffer depression, eating disorders, and such because they are pressured and stressed from the idea of being judged. With this, the main goal of the beauty pageant is no longer achieved. The winners of the beauty pageants are decided by a number of judges.
But in reality, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What may seem beautiful for me is not the same for others. People should not forget the main goal of the beauty pageant: to build one’s confidence. Beauty pageants should be motivational. This should help all kinds of people accept and love themselves. We must not depend on society’s standards of beautiful.
