Should Beauty Pageants be banned?

Table of Contents

Introduction:

Should beauty pageants be banned? Is there any need to conduct a contest where a girl is judged only based on her physical presence?

Let us discuss in detail: A beauty pageant is a contest that is organised at various levels, like city, state, national, or international levels. In these contests, after going through many rounds of competition, a title like Miss India or Miss World is given to the winner.

India at beauty pageants

The first time Rita Faryain won the Miss World title for India was in 1960. After many Indian girls like Aishwarya Rai and Priyanka Chopra, and very recently in 2018, Manushi Chillar won the Miss World title.

Although some people think that there is no benefit to these contests, according to me, these beauty contests should be continued.

Should beauty pageants be banned? NO

First of all, it is a symbol of women’s empowerment. When a girl confidently faces thousands of people on the stage and wins a contest, it not only gives confidence to that girl but also encourages other girls in her country and the world to follow their dreams. It sends the message that that girl is no less than anyone.

Generally, there is a mentality among the people that these contests are won only because of external beauty, which is not true. She has to face many tests of intelligence to win the title.
Contestants running for Miss World or Universe must have experience in social work, like working for an NGO, orphanage, old-age home, etc. The participants are also judged on the social work they do and the number of people influenced by it.
Even after winning the title, a winner does a lot of social work. We can see how Priyanka Chopra is the ambassador of UNICEF.
India is a country of Ayurveda. We have many Ayurveda beauty products. When any Indian girl wins such a title, we can promote our Ayurveda and other beauty products to the world.
It is a platform where girls from all parts of the world come to a stage. It gives an idea of the culture and traditions of other countries.
It requires discipline in terms of diet, health, and fitness, as they have to be physically perfect.

Should beauty pageants be banned? Yes

No doubt, beauty contests help in developing and enhancing the overall personality, but they are also harming our young generation.
At this juncture of life, children should concentrate on their academics, but they involve themselves in the glamour world.

Fashion and modelling have a very short life span. There is no job security. Their attraction will remain until they are young.
Girls get distracted from the bigger priorities in life. Rather than focusing on education, enhancing skills, and making their career, the majority of the girls start focusing on their looks and figures.
Rather than celebrating external presence and beauty, the upcoming generation should get the message of enhancing inner beauty. They should be taught to be compassionate to animals, kind to younger and weaker people, and respectful to elders.
Several young kids get so obsessed with outer beauty that they go through cosmetic surgery. In a country like South Korea, the majority of young women undergo plastic surgery.
Sometimes, to get to zero size, women observe strict fasting, which causes serious health issues for them.

Areas of Improvement

More emphasis should be placed on checking the calibre and intelligence level than mere looks.
Only those with a good educational record and participation in other extracurricular activities should be selected. Fa-Femina Miss India introduced a new category where the contestants had to show their talents like singing, dancing, and mono-acting.

Conclusion:

Should beauty pageants be banned? The answer is big no. But definitely, there is a need to overhaul the process of selection and shortlisting candidates. More emphasis should be given to overall personality than merely looks.