Miss World 2007 – Just because you can’t beat it doesn’t mean you have to join it

Whilst channel hopping last Saturday night, I found myself switched on to the Miss World 2007 contest being held in Sanya, China. The two hour dumb-fest was on the home run when I decided to feed my curiosity to see if the Chinese girl would triumph. I did so, because it was so obvious she would even though I had missed the best past of an hour and forty minutes.

So why did I watch it? The simple answer is I don’t know. I joined an estimated worldwide audience of over 2.5 billion (made up mainly of Chinese and Indians I assume) to watch this mind-numbingly tedious and predictable excuse for a competition and yet, it was quite funny, listening to these scantily clad madams trying their hardest to seem and sound normal and level headed.

At one stage, the final 12 were asked what they best memory of China was. Almost all but a couple struggled to say anything other than how wonderful the people were, how many friends they have made and how this was going to be the best memory of their lives. Whilst there were language difficulties with some of the girls, even the English speaking contestant’s answers made the Eurovision Song Contest sound like Mastermind and YET it was really funny.

Eventually the Chinese girl did triumph and no one was surprised.

This year’s competition brought together more than one hundred young women for the annual contest on the tropical Chinese island. Coinciding with World AIDS Day, the competition over stressed its self-importance, emphasising that it was more than just a collection of beautiful women from around the globe sporting skimpy bikinis and false smiles. They also highlighted the significant achievement of the competition which in the past 30 years has raised more than £250 million through its charity programmes.

From its inception, the Miss World beauty pageant has attracted controversy and glamour in equal measure. Feminists complain of the degrading portrayal of Barbie-doll models; others insist it is a celebration of womanhood. One thing I haven't been able to figure out about the extremist feminist movement to date is they way they lambast women for behaving in a manner which they think is imposed on them by men, and then at the same time seek to impose their own views of how women should be on them instead.

The Miss World competition was established in 1951 with the purpose of discovering the most ‘beautiful’ woman in the world. The organisers claim it embodies ‘beauty with a purpose’. In the 21st Century, the competition is televised worldwide and is the third most watched show in the world, controversy has never been too far behind.

The Miss World contest organisers claim they are in search of the modern woman, who is intelligent, driven, beautiful and poised and who will contribute to her countries profile. According to the publicity material Miss World is ‘more than just a beauty pageant, it is an opportunity to discover outstanding young woman and also to provide her with a platform of local achievement and international recognition and an opportunity to be a spokesperson on fundamental issues that our world is facing.

There is some truth in the above statement. Amongst the entrants, there were lawyer, medical students, architects and one who had just completed a degree in aeronautical engineering. It would be far too easy to condemn these girls to mere objects of beauty because they themselves seem quite convinced that the competition was ‘not as much about beauty anymore but a combination of all achievements, a recognition of their academic status. The competition itself on some levels appears to be an opportunity for a woman to showcase her talents and intellect, the contentious criteria suggests that the Miss World Competition still remains traditional in it’s attitudes toward physical appearance and ideal feminine behaviour.

The Miss World and Miss Universe pageant have been criticized on numerous occasions for reinforcing and encouraging sadistic and racist beauty norms. Claims that the competition is based on a wish to define universal beauty norms and is based on a history of celebrating universal whiteness and western ideas of femininity and womanhood are a myth.

Beauty pageants, beauty ‘myths’ and traditional ideas of femininity have been explored by many feminists. It is a sad but true reality, that in the twenty-first century two and a half billion people in this world still watch and engage, in this competition which still heralds the swimsuit competition, evening gown, talent, and assesses women on rigidity and poise. The competition is objectifying, preserves elitist and sadistic norms of beauty and femininity, along with the subject that in turn reinforces these ideas.

The Miss World competition is not, in itself, degrading to women. All societies have standards of beauty (and intelligence). Almost all societies hold 'competitions' on these matters. I would be surprised if the majority of respondents in a poll thought, for example, that the Mr Universe contest was degrading to men - despite the fact that this competition provides objectified, unrealistic and one-dimensional representations of males to the same (or greater) extent as the Miss world competition. Does the Miss World competition contribute to a society which limits and distorts role models for women, which then contributes to women's continued lack of equality?

This comes down to a question of basic values. Contests such as this, along with portrayals of the ideal look in the fashion world, only serves to perpetuate the myth that women are only worth something if they are young, long-legged and beautiful. What a woman may be able to offer in terms of intellect and reason seems to be of no importance. While such meat markets exist, women and men will never reach a state of equality in any area. It's time to reassert the values that we wish to instil into our children and future generations.

The Miss World contest degrades woman because it tends to portray women as materialistic objects. Appreciating beauty and respecting women is good but the way it is projected in the Miss World contest is wrong. For example, the questions that the contestants are asked are ridiculous and the answers that they give are equally ridiculous, not because they are stupid but because they answer it that way if they want to win the contest. It is not clear to me how people regard all this as empowerment of women, and giving them equal status as men.
To celebrate woman, there is no need for such a contest. Women should not be put on a pedestal and admired like an object of beauty. Women are human, and these human qualities are what should be considered. What is needed is to acknowledge that there are many beautiful, talented, and wonderful women across the globe; each with a different kind of beauty because beauty speaks in many different languages.

In the end, if some women want to be in beauty pageants, that's their choice. Let's not forget that these are all professional beauty contest winners, and everything in their lives is devoted to the contest in order to win. So they don't represent real women in any sense of the word. The only thing I object to is the continuing image we are giving young girls and boys, that physical beauty is the only thing a woman needs. As long as men (and women) judge each other by outer appearance, instead of by personality, we will have some form of beauty worship.