Beauty pageants: Evolving or outworn?

In a first in the dreamy, magical, glamorous, and seductive world of beauty pageants, Alejandra Maria Rodriguez, a 60-year-old Argentine woman, recently shattered stereotypes and myths associated with the Miss Universe beauty pageants by clinching the title for the province of Buenos Aires. She became the first sexagenarian to win a title in a competition organised by the Miss Universe franchise since they announced last year that there would no longer be an upper age limit of 28 for contestants.

While she was unable to repeat her triumph and win the title of Miss Argentina on Saturday, she did win the “best face category” and celebrated her breakthrough as the markings of a new era in the pageant world and in the way that we consume beauty as a society.

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In an increasingly changing world, there have been several criticisms of the pageant world and what they stand for, with modernists calling for a complete ban on beauty pageants, claiming that they are regressive, sexist, ageist, and not in tune with evolving society.

It was time for an overhaul, but the venerable institution and the Miss Universe Organisation, headquartered in New York City and Bangkok and currently owned by the Thai JKN Global Group, which took over from WWE/IMG in 2022, stepped up to the challenge.

Till last year, the pageant only allowed unmarried and childless women to participate, and the expectation from the winner was to remain that way till they held the title. However, last year, along with removing the upper age limit, they also opened their arms to married women with children. The message was loud and clear. A woman’s personal choices should not stand in the way of her success.

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So, are beauty pageants evolving with time and still relevant, or should they be discarded entirely?

Each year, almost 2.5 million women participate in about a hundred thousand different beauty pageants. These are stellar numbers and do not indicate a dying institution.

While the term “beauty pageant” seems to only validate a woman on the basis of her external beauty, over time these competitions have become multidimensional and try to give the participants a platform to showcase their entire personalities.

When the first beauty pageant, Miss America, took place in 1921, judges looked for women who symbolised ideal feminine beauty at the time: a slender body, a pale complexion, and fashionable.

However, today, though physical appearance is still the major card, these events seek to look beyond just physical beauty. Yes, though, the concept of judging women on the basis of their feminine performance over the course of a competition might sound jarring. It is also worth mentioning that these pageants also provide women with a platform to practice their public speaking skills, give them confidence to stand up in front of large crowds, and have a voice to express themselves and the causes they want to promote. In a hypocritic and outwardly feminist world that is still ruled by internalised misogyny, any programme that seeks to empower women, give them a voice, and encourage their confidence cannot possibly be harmful or threatening to society as a whole.

Like it or not, female beauty has always been a much-coveted and prized factor, and it’s actually regressive to think of it as a detriment to feminism or fender equality. Beauty standards in pageants have changed over time to foster a more diverse environment, balancing the Eurocentric beauty standards of the 1900s. In 1984, Vanessa Williams became the first African American to win the Miss America title. In 2019, Miss USA, Miss Teen USA, and Miss America were all African American women.

Furthermore, sometimes beauty pageants can break down certain archaic social constructs around ideals of beauty and help women break certain generational barriers, as it happened in the Philippines a few days ago. On May 22, 2024, Filipino American Chelsea Manalo became the first Black woman to be crowned Miss Universe Philippines, shattering traditional ideals of beauty long held in the country, shaped by its colonial past.

“Chelsea’s win challenges our ingrained preference for Eurocentric beauty and lighter complexions in our nation," wrote an Instagram user.

“Filipino beauty standards shattered," wrote another.

During the competition, Manalo was asked on stage how she would use her beauty to empower others.
Her answer was, “As a woman of colour, I have always faced challenges in my life. I was told that beauty has standards, actually.” She explained that her mother inspired her to believe in herself, and that is how she is now standing on the stage, already influencing many young girls and women who do not fit into a traditional mould of attractiveness, who now see her and feel more confident about themselves.

So, although it may seem contradictory, sometimes beauty pageants can become a tool to change societal expectations of how a female body should look. Pageants such as Miss Plus America and Miss Amazing give all women a chance to win and truly celebrate female beauty of all shapes, sizes, and ages.

Miss Universe 2020 Zozibini Tunzi said on stage at the competition, “I grew up in a world where a woman who looks like me with my kind of skin and my kind of hair was never considered to be beautiful. And I think that it is time that stops today.” She was crowned Miss Universe a few minutes after.

Yes, it is wrong to think that a woman’s value is only in her physical appearance, but there is no real need to stop celebrating beauty and femininity. Instead, events that celebrate these attributes may often be empowering and break new ground in ways that we don’t always focus on.

In fact, it is ignorant to look down on a woman trying to empower herself on a platform by virtue of her grace, charm, and intelligence to further her ambitions.

If superheroes can wear capes and masks, they can also wear tiaras and heels.

The author is a freelance journalist and features writer based out of Delhi. Her main areas of focus are politics, social issues, climate change and lifestyle-related topics. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.