How can beauty pageants affect how women feel about themselves?
Watching the Miss America Pageant, or other beauty pageants, sometimes all anybody can think is, "wow, those women are beautiful". But is that really how those women feel about themselves? Going into a pageant, the preparation can last up to three hours. About two of those hours on hair, and an hour on makeup. Do you ever wonder what women feel like under all that coverup? William Pinsof, a psychologist, says that '"Being a little Barbie doll says your body has to be a certain way and your hair has to be a certain way. In girls particularly, this can unleash a whole complex of destructive self-experiences that can lead to eating disorders and all kinds of body distortions in terms of body image"' (Kareen Nussbaum). Another thing I found out while researching is that the drama seen on tv that is associated with beauty pageants is inaccurate. There are the occasional fits of children or women crying because of something that happened, but realistically, not all people are affected that much by beauty pageants. Cameras like to focus the attention on the drama so viewers of tv shows like "Toddlers and Tiaras" don't get to see the whole story of how people are really affected. There's so much more to pageants that not everybody gets to see. Also, if someone doesn't win a pageant, it can cause that person to think things like, '"I'm ugly because the judges didn't pick me, there's something wrong with me, or I'm not good enough because I didn't win"'. If someone is only told that they're beautiful when they're all made up for a pageant, that can have a huge affect on their self-esteem (Rhonda Shappert). Also, I interviewed a Pastor, named Louis Ortega, and he told me he does not like beauty pageants because they are not based on women's intelligence or Godly qualities, but only on beauty and it's demeaning to women.