A speech on “The Miss America Pageant Is Sexist”

The Miss America Pageant, which is an annually performed competition opened for women in the United States who are between the age of 17 to 25. This which was started in 1921, focused more on the physical appearance and had swimsuit ramp walks to flaunt the beauty of the ladies who were participating.

As of 2018, the swimsuit portion has been taken off, and now the ladies are judged based on their talent performances, and interviews, not the outer physical appearance. Still, in my opinion, Miss America Pageant is sexist at some point, and here are a few points that could explain why;

  • Married or Mothers under the said age category are not allowed to participate. This is equal to questioning a woman’s personal life. To be a part of the contest the participants should swear that they are not married or not having a child in either way- biologically or adopted. 
  • Excluding women who are not thin. A curvy or slightly fat body also has its beauty. Nowadays many fields in the fashion industry have brought plus size models to attract such customers too. Though there is no official rule on a plus-size model should not be a part of this pageant, but every year passes by we get to see only the same thin-size models take part in this. Former contestants are later on fat-shamed by the other contestants if she gets to put on a little bit fat. Isn’t this being sexist?
  • Appearance also matters equally as a personality; though it is not said out that way. They consider that the look of a woman should be as good as their intellect. Whereas that should not be a reason at all. The swimsuit contest was carried out for years to show a lady’s physical fitness, but that isn’t the correct way to portray the physical strength of a woman.
  • Women with no feminine features are ignored or not allowed to participate. They continue to believe only the stereotypical feminine women are meant to be beautiful in swimsuits and evening gowns. Anyone who does not match those criteria is ignored or sometimes made fun of. 

Women are magical, beautiful, and intelligent beings in the whole world. No barriers could stop a lady from being beautiful in anyways she looks. These beauty pageants always evaluate a woman based on her looks and also establish the stupid idea that only women who are looking pretty are meant to be smart and have worth in society.

These pageants spread the word that they support women of all the kind and they are voices into the world to build a better space for women to live with equality and rights; but with these sexist mindsets inside the contest, it is clear that they have to work on better values and respect for every kind of women in the world at first to run these kinds of beauty contests. 

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