Beauty Contests Are Harmful
Beauty Contests Are Harmful
( by Ishika Bansal )
A beauty contest is a competitive platform wherein merely females compete and are later
ranked on the basics of physical attributes of the contestants. It was first started in 1826
with the objective of building self-confidence, improving communication skills, and to teach
discipline but now from past recent years, it has lost its objective and meaning as beauty
pageants degrade women to mere objects. It has become quite harmful for women as it
encourages dieting, eating disorders, and cosmetic surgery.
Few other reasons why beauty contests are harmful are:-
1. They emphasize on beauty over talent:-
Intelligence and talent have no space in these contests rather the physical and outer
appearance rules.
2. They force women into specific demographics:-
There are certain physical requirements that a participant has to go through like height,
weight, BMI, and other body necessities that have to be met by the participant. This intent to
body shaming.
3. Creates an adverse impact on self-esteem:-
The difference regarding height, weight, and other body measurements lead to the low selfesteem of a person who is unable to meet the desired requirements.
4. Natural beauty has lost its meaning:-
These contests have emphasized more on artificial beauty with tons of makeup material
rather than natural beauty. In the race to whose more attractive people use various makeup
materials due to which natural beauty has lost its persistence. This makeup material causes
various skin diseases, permanent dark-circles, blackheads, etc which can be hidden through
artificial stuff but leaves their mark on a person's face for the rest of their life.
5. Impact on Children:-
Beauty pageants for children were banned in France because just for the sake of
competition, young girls go through surgeries to meet the standards of beauty contests.
They are taught to wear makeup in the right way to look attractive and wear swim apparel
just to meet the requirements of the contest.
6. Sake of Money:-
Some parents force their kids to be a part of such contests for the sake of money. At the age
of playing with their friends, these little kids are forced to wear makeup and are also asked
to practice for hours to walk on the ramp in the desired way which will make them win and
earn money. Due to such practices, children of young age lose their childhood.
7. They are Expensive:-
People spend billions of money to coach for these beauty contests and when they do not win
they get depressed which affects their mental health. As these contests require a lot of
money, and so most of the deserving women could not be a part of it because of financial
issues.
8. Unfair Contests:-
These contests are not fair enough as everyone does not have the equal opportunity to
participate. Some are left behind due to financial issues and some others are left behind
because they do not fulfill the physical requirements. These contests do not give the
opportunity to chubby women even if they want to participate but they are indirectly body
shamed and are forced to deal with the message that they're not good enough to be part of
it.
9. Pageants away from reality-check:-
Beauty contest winners live in the world of glamour and over-emphasis, their looks, and they
are deprived of reality which may lead to depression and can disturb mental health.
As a coin has two sides, similarly contesting beauty competitions also have its own
advantages and disadvantages but some points should be kept in mind while conducting
such contests so that it isn't bound to a particular group of people rather is equally open for
all as beauty isn't all about having a pretty face and zero figure body, it's also about having a
pretty mind, heart and soul as everything counts and not the outer beauty to showcase that
a person is beautiful.
Disclaimer:-
The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Light de Literacy and LDL does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
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