Pageants Are So Much More Than Just Skin Deep By Jason Greiner

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With the 2011 installment of the Miss America competition less than a week away, perhaps we should take a deeper look into the nature of reputable pageants altogether.

Probably ever since the beginning of beauty pageants, there has been some level of friction between those who are comfortable with these contests and those who, for whatever reason, oppose them.

While some portions of the population describe pageants with words like derogatory, demeaning, sexist, objectification, and more, it seems to me like these people are either overlooking things or are completely missing the point.

If we really stop and think about it we can analyze these competitions and find out that they tend to emphasize and display the positive elements of humanity as they exist in the fairer sex.

A few of these attributes are elegance, intelligence, dedication and physical beauty.

The elegance factor comes in during the evening gown portion of the competition but is also expressed in the way that the contestants are expected to represent themselves and the community of which they are a part.

Intelligence is the emphasis when it comes to the question and answer portion of the contests. And, of course, many of these contests provide scholarship opportunities to the winners, also placing a great deal of importance on intelligence though education. In fact, many of the women who enter these pageants do so with scholarship dreams as a primary motivation.

We can see dedication displayed in the hard work and discipline these women put into the routines they chose to perform during the talent portion of the contest. And, of course, the ladies also put in countless hours in physical training and keeping their physical health at peak levels. This too shows extreme dedication.

And finally, even though some might think of it in negative terms, pageants reward physical beauty. This is probably most evident in the swimwear portion of the competition. While some may deem this as sexist, what is sexist about admiring physical beauty? Without having an admiration for the human form, some of the world's greatest art, poetry and sculpture would never have been produced.

All in all, these contests promote several elements that cone together to make a beautiful person both inside and out. Maybe it's just me but that sure seems anything but negative.

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