Beauty Contest and Feminism

Feminism is not all about hating men; it is about fighting for equal rights. Man has always dominated women since age-old times. Since women were not well-educated and financially independent she remained the oppressed gender. Her worth as a homemaker and a mother was not recognized and was subject to male dominance.

Feminism is all about demanding self-respect. Although the scenario has changed today with more and more women getting proper education, to reach high positions of power women has to put in twice the effort put by her male counterpart. Rape, forced marriage and other misogynist actions are forced on her.

Feminist of the world want to break down all barriers that obstruct women from being treated equally. They want women to be free from cruelty and receive the same opportunities as men, in education and at her place of work. Feminism about bringing equality and making the world a better place for everybody to live in.

So what is the connection between beauty contest and feminism? Beauty contest although gives women an opportunity to prosper and showcase her talent, feminist disapprove of it for the way a women is portrayed here.

They maintain that here again it is the male who decides the worth of women on the basis of her beauty. Here again she has to qualify after being ogled by the panel of judges. Can't women look beautiful without displaying her skin? Why go to such demeaning heights? Why treat women as an object of entertainment? It is on these issues that beauty contest and feminism collide.

Beauty in these contests is only skin-deep; it promotes women as an inferior gender. Such shows adhere to obsolete principles of beauty and seek approval of others and it sends a wrong message to the society.

Though beauty contest and feminism do not see eye to eye with each other, the latter must remember that the girls compete for the contest voluntarily. Banning and protesting is not the answer to the solution, some of the girls depend on it as it helps them to pursue a career.

The solution lies in organizing beauty contest for men; while this is organized in some countries it has not gained immense popularity like the women's contest. Organizing beauty contest for plus-size women, beauty contest for mothers and beauty contest for career women for being what she is appropriate. Just being career-oriented does not make a women extraordinary. Being a good mother, a good wife, a good daughter and women who stands by her family are just as good traits as been career conscious.

By Linus Orakles