What is Beauty?

7-12-09


Beauty pageants are big business. They are should not be confused with presidential elections. The contestants are not beautiful young women with voices to be heard. They are pieces in a well oiled machine that create income for perhaps some not so beautiful people behind the scenes.

Pageants are important to the women who sometimes work their whole lives towards the dream of having some sparkly tiara placed on their helmet hair. They are the girls that don’t sing into the shampoo bottle, they are the ones that use the shampoo bottle as their pretend scepter or bundle of roses as they practice their kiss and wave in front of a mirror, hoping that some day they will be doing this in front of a large crowd.

The beauty industry is widespread. There is the fashion industry and Hollywood, but the pageants are a different industry altogether. In fashion, the goal is to sell clothing. Hollywood could be selling everything from movies to music. Even advertising uses beauty for its sales. How many people ran out and bought a Carl’s Jr Hamburger once they saw Paris Hilton making a mess of herself on that car?

What does the pageant industry sell? Truly, it comes down to, these are women, selling themselves. Their sole purpose is to flaunt their assets, along with their asses, in front of a panel of judges in order to get the crown, and in the end, whatever cash prizes come their way with this honor.

The question becomes, do we as a society truly care about what these women are selling? At least with Hollywood, we get a little pleasure out of watching a movie with a good looking actress. Carl’s Jr hamburgers are yummy, and even though I am sure I would eat one without Paris’s endorsement, it might have sparked some sales. But if a Miss American contestant happens to look fabulous in a one piece bathing suit, are we running out in droves to get the suit? I would imagine their hopes are that we didn’t notice the suit, and actually saw only the woman in the suit. But we can’t go out and buy her.

We only seem to pay real attention when there is scandal. Vanessa Williams was once Miss America in 1983. Although it is possible she got a lot of press for being the first African American Miss America, the press for the nude pictures 10 months into her reign was much greater. When little JonBenet Ramsey was brought into the spotlight, it wasn’t for her cute smile, it was for the brutal way in which her life was ended.

The last couple weeks have been filled with the media reports concerning Carrie Prejean and her Miss California title. It started with the controversy with her answer to one of the questions asked by the judges. My first complaint with this is that, why in the world are we asking questions? Does it truly mater if she knows anything about the Middle East or about important issues like gay marriage? These aren’t well rounded women. They are women who know how to make their teeth look the right shade of white and how to keep their bathing suit from riding up.

As if this wasn’t bad enough, the question asked came from the judge. Perez Hilton. This man is not to be confused with the hamburger selling chick mentioned before. This is the flamboyant celebrity blogger who is famous mostly for his crude drawings on pictures of people in Hollywood with childish remarks under them. This is the caliber of your judges? This in itself makes not only the question and answer null and void, but it negates any kind of serious tone you could possibly take with this pageant.

His question regarding gay marriage resulted in her answer summed up as she was not a supporter of this. If you are for or against gay marriage, honestly, what does it matter what this woman thinks? Have you been holding on to your ballet for Prop 8, waiting for Ms. Prejean to finally make an official statement on the matter? Did the world stop turning when she said she only believed in “opposite” marriage? Did Steven Hawking stand up for the first time in years, all inspired because clearly, here was a woman truly worthy of his audience because of her brilliance? If your answer is yes to any of these, then I would guess you work for a pageant.

While this controversy was brewing, the outspoken contestant must have forgotten about the cardinal rule. Don’t take naked pictures of yourself unless you are fully prepared to have them splayed across the internet and be publicly mocked for your lack of morals.

Once again, I don’t care what she did in front of a camera. Her little pageant might, but should the rest of the world care? Ok, maybe a little since she is hot, and under 18 so make sure you don’t go looking at that! But other than that, it makes no difference whatsoever. She is the business of selling her body. If her body was photographed, isn’t that the whole point? And maybe that is why the folks behind the Miss California are all up in arms. Not because they exist, but because they didn’t make any money off of their property, which is really, Ms Prejean herself. Wouldn’t it be refreshing if they came out and just asked her to let them use the photo in one of their calendars or maybe on a mug? Shoot, there was a rumor flying around that the Miss California people paid for her breast implants and that these pics are after said surgery. Then in my book, them boobs belong to someone other than Ms Prejean.

All I am trying to say is, yes, put them up on a pedestal. But this pedestal is not made of honor or character. It is simply some pretty statue you see in a museum and marvel at the beautiful curves that may or may not be man made. She should be seen, not heard, as a testament to how amazing Aqua Net can hold and just how much makeup the human face can hold without drooping. Please don’t think that they are role models. They are just models, and I think once we drop the role, the universe will be restored, in the form of a Miss Universe sash.