It is flattering whenever people think I aim to be a beauty queen because it implies that they think I am beautiful enough to deserve the crown. But I don’t want to deal with the ugly sides of beauty pageants.
First of all, I don’t think I am in a position to write about the ugly sides of beauty pageants because I never joined one. But I think it is just okay to share my opinion on this as there are people who expect me to.
But before I talk about my physical appearance once again, here are the ugly sides of beauty pageants according to someone who is unwilling to join one:
- People feel like it is okay to objectify and sexualize people.
- Being too public can be dangerous to mental health.
- It promotes fake and unrealistic beauty standards.
Let’s begin.
3 Ugly Sides of Beauty Pageants and Why I Never Joined
I will not beat around the bush: I come across people who ask me if I do pageantry. If I tell them I don’t, they will either change the topic or tell me that I should do it.
Why? In the Philippines, I am considered tall. I know how tall I am, but I am also not sure because people who are smaller than me claim that they are as tall as me.
Or taller than me.
I became interested in writing about this because every February, a beauty pageant is happening here in my area. In January, I was seeing posters about it.
I checked the requirements, and I saw that women must be 5’5″ tall and men 5’7″.
One of the contestants was my schoolmate, and she was about 5 inches shorter than me. How was she able to enter when I am 5’5″ and she is 5 inches shorter?
Or am I 5’10” and those big rulers on the wall used to measure the height have been tricking me? Nope. It is common for people to lie about their height.
Or maybe the reason is that beauty contestants wear high heels, and they include the height of the heels in the equation.
According to Men’s Health, men are more likely to lie about their height than women. Women often lie about their weight.
In terms of facial features, I attract people: men, women, and even LGBT members. The attraction is not necessarily romantic. I just catch people’s eyes.
I am not the prettiest, and I don’t feel pretty all the time. But I have some prettiness in me. I also look like I have a great body, and I disagree.
I never had a flat stomach even at 51 kilograms in high school. I just have a small body frame, so I look skinny. The last time I checked, my wrist circumference was five inches.
People think I look better in person. I think so, too. It is because you see the whole me: my height, the way I move, my facial expressions, my face, and my body.
That is the case for all people, including you. I am going to tell you now that you look better in person, so don’t take your pictures seriously.
So, when I was in college, there was one instance when some schoolmates wanted me to represent our department in the school-wide beauty pageant.
I had bad skin in college, so I was confused at the time about why they wanted me to join the pageant. I didn’t feel beautiful enough.
Both of my grandmothers also once encouraged me to join local pageants or to be a model. One even said I could be Miss Universe. That didn’t come from me, huh.
And then recently, there were two people who asked me whether I take part in beauty contests. It was my new dentist and her assistant. I was surprised.
It is flattering whenever people think I aim to be a beauty queen because it implies that they think I am beautiful enough to deserve the crown.
But the ugly sides of beauty pageants exist that’s why I never joined. Let us talk about the ugly sides of beauty pageants.
1. People feel like it is okay to objectify and sexualize people.
I can’t count how many times I have seen men look at women’s butt, boobs, or whole body from head to toe. Some were pure admiration, some with lust.
You don’t have to join a beauty pageant to experience that, but more people will do that to you if you join. Your body is being looked at by many people.
You also don’t have to be a woman to be objectified and sexualized. Men experience it, too. I admit that men who are considered sexy catch my eye.
But I see this as a big deal because I am modest. I don’t expose my body in front of anyone. I haven’t done that since I was a child.
Saying I am modest may seem immodest. But Psychology Today says that modesty is not about downplaying yourself. It is about being aware of what makes you better than others so that you don’t hurt them with that fact.
So, this is a personal issue.
Personally, I don’t join beauty pageants because there is a swimsuit competition. I don’t want to wear swimsuits and show my body to everyone.
I know I don’t have the “standard” body. I have small boobs, so you will not see any cleavage but my sternum. I think it is okay because I have a small body frame.
But despite having small boobs, my butt is fine and makes my small-framed body look — sexy? It adds curves to my body, and curves are attractive to a lot of men.
Attracting people feels good because it strokes the ego, but I don’t like it if it is because of my body.
If someone is attracted to your body, it is lust. If a stranger is “in lust” with you, that is creepy. I don’t want to be “in lust” with people who are not my husband, so no.
2. Being too public can be dangerous to mental health.
I know that there are people who are afraid or shy to approach me because I don’t look sociable. I talk to strangers, and I even laugh with some, but I am not sociable.
Whenever I go out, you will see me looking serious most of the time. I only talk to those I need to talk to and interact with people I have to interact with.
I have always been a private person since then because I got used to being invisible. I was unattractive in high school, so I grew up living lowkey.
I was sociable as a child, though. I spent my childhood in the streets playing with my cousins and my neighbors.
I also don’t feel like I am a role model because I have some negative traits, and I had lots of them in the past.
According to Patient, adolescents experience a lot of new things that stress them out. This is why they become difficult to handle.
If people from the past saw me in beauty contests, some of them would bash me and say I am fake. Nope, I just changed. Am I not allowed to?
But come to think of it: I can be a role model because I show that people can change and that your past doesn’t need to be your present and future. Right?
But they might not believe me.
So, making yourself public leaves you open to criticism, judgment, and other unacceptable behavior. I would not be able to live peacefully if I made myself available to everyone. *whew*
Being popular is good because you can influence people, and you will get many followers and likes on social media. But you will also get ingenuine treatment.
I am not popular, but my mom and her family have an influence. I experienced many times that when I mentioned it, people would behave differently around me.
It happens super fast. Just in a snap.
3. It promotes fake and unrealistic beauty standards.
One of the ugly sides of beauty pageants is that they promote fake and unrealistic beauty standards.
Makeup. High heels. Flawless skin. Super restrictive diet. I am not against those because I wear it, aim for it, and do it. But what about those people who can’t?
I know that it is not their fault that people are insecure about them, but even those who join pageants feel insecure. They have to be better than others to win.
Contestants need to have great skin despite the heavy makeup, be tall or tall enough because heels exist, and maintain a sexy figure.
I watched a video of a person who joined Miss Universe, and she said that she had to be underweight because that was what the organization wanted.
Healthline shares the health risks of being underweight.
No matter how many times they say that beauty pageants are not only about physical beauty, it is very apparent that it is mostly about physical beauty.
If you remove the makeup, the heels, and the body-hugging clothes, the person who has the most unpleasant natural face and physique as per the beauty standards will be judged.
Not necessarily by the judges but by the audience. They would say something like: “Wow, she is ugly without makeup or she is so fat.”
It may not be beauty pageants’ fault, but because of them, people who watch them have developed this thinking that someone needs to be this or that to be considered beautiful.
And if you don’t look perfect, you are ugly. That will affect your self-esteem.
Some people refuse to admit that they wear makeup to look pretty in the eyes of other people and would say that they are doing it for themselves.
But when they meet someone who looks better than them, their confidence will suddenly be shaken, and their insecurity will eat them once they are alone.
And when they get home and remove their makeup, their insecurity will reach the maximum level. Suddenly, they are not as confident as they want people to believe.
I am talking about some.
Some of those who are ugly based on society’s standards were able to get past it and own themselves. But that doesn’t protect them from insults.
We can never deny that in order to live an easier life in this world, being pretty can help a great deal. It is a golden ticket.
Last Words
Despite the ugly sides of beauty pageants or any venture that is focused on beauty, I once dreamt of being a runway model.
During her teenage years, my mom joined local beauty pageants and the Santacruzan. I wanted that, too. However, I am now too old and busy for that.
My focus right now is strength training. I want to lower my body fat percentage and have abs. I think my kind of beauty involves being physically strong.
I am a girly girl, but not the soft kind if you know what I mean.
Hope you enjoyed the ugly sides of beauty pageants!
If you enjoyed reading the ugly sides of beauty pageants and why I never joined, here is a video of me talking about some pretty problems:
