Desiree Quintero

University of La Verne alumna Sarah Davis waves to an admiring audience in the Dailey Theatre shortly after being crowned Miss La Verne on March 13, 2004. Although Davis awed the judges with her gymnastic talent via a dance routine composed of classic and jazz dance moves, beauty pageants continue to be viewed as outdated competitions that objectify women based on looks alone.

Valerie Rojas
Copy Editor

When someone hears the words beauty pageant, images of rhinestone studded tiaras, fake tears and amateur talent showcases may invade her brain.

The average person may picture young women prancing around on stage wearing nothing more than a bikini and a pair of stilettos while trying to convince the audience that they should do their part to end world hunger.

And while pageant proponents say there is more to winning a beauty pageant than simply honing good looks, such pageants still garner criticism by those who see them as sexist and arcane.

Beauty pageants, such as the Miss America Pageant, Miss U.S.A. or even Miss La Verne, remain a target for criticism, based on the idea that pageants do indeed objectify women, regardless of the community services they provide, the confidence they may help build or the amount of support they earn.

“(Pageants) are like national political conventions and a religious revival rolled together,” said Hilary Levey, a Ph.D. candidate at Princeton University who has attended more than 25 beauty pageants. She has studied pageantry since 1999 when she began her research at Harvard University. Not only has she seen more tiaras awarded than any normal person will in a lifetime, but the spirit of pageantry runs in her blood: her mother is Miss America 1970.

Every year, women of all ages enlist in these competitive pageants, with high hopes of winning a tiara, a title and perhaps a nice stack of cash, regardless of the negative social stigma that surrounds the world of pageantry. A prospective queen can win up to thousands of dollars in prize and scholarship money depending on the pageant she competes in and the title she earns.

“There are a lot of girls who do pageants just for the money,” Levey said.
But the idea that women can earn money for having a pretty face has long been a cause of uneasiness. Many stronger feminists agree that earning money based on beauty is indeed sexist and outdated.

“Theoretically, women still don’t completely understand their place or role in society,” Levey said. “We are told we can do anything, but then we see women like Condoleeza Rice who are strong, but not married.

“Men can have the family and the career; women still feel this tension,” she added, which may be a reason why many women do use their beauty as a tool for earning scholarship money. “Pageantry is a symptom, not a cause, of the tension.”

It is not wrong for women to compete for the money, Levey said.

“But today there are so many other opportunities for women to earn scholarship money.”

The world-renowned Miss America Pageant is indeed the front-runner in awarding scholarships to pageant winners. Last year alone, the Miss America pageant awarded $311,500 in scholarship money to contestants, of which a $30,000 scholarship was awarded to Jennifer Berry along with the title of Miss America 2006. The Miss La Verne Pageant awarded $1,850 to its participants this year.

There is a strong emphasis on beauty but pageant proponents insist that winners are not judged on looks alone.

“I do not think that a pageant such as Miss America or Miss La Verne, sends the message to women that they can earn money based only on looks,” said Dana El-Mahmoud, spokeswoman for the Miss La Verne pageant. “There are many areas which are judged, such as public speaking, interview and talent.”

For the Miss La Verne pageant, the most crucial part of the competition is the interview portion, which takes place both off stage and on. Competitors have a 12-minute interview session with the judges and are later asked a question on stage during the competition. This portion accounts for 40 percent of the scoring. Talent, the second heaviest weighted portion, accounts for 35 percent, while the eveningwear, swimsuit and casual wear portions account for the remaining 25 percent.

“It has to do with so much more than just beauty,” said Danielle Harkins, spokeswoman for the Miss America Pageant.

Participants also have to present their platform, a stand on a certain topic such as veteran support, intolerance for underage drinking, or Autism Awareness, the platform supported by ULV alumna Sarah Seiverling, first runner-up for the Miss La Verne 2006 pageant.

“Looks are a part of (the competition),” said Seiverling who was awarded $500 from the pageant. “But so much more is based on community service and volunteering.”

Seiverling decided to give the Miss La Verne pageant a go after a classmate told her she should compete for the title.

Overall, Seiverling said the pageant was a good experience and she would participate in future pageants. However, she admits she wishes the pageant would change a few things.

“I wish they would have focused more on the talent portion and not so much on the swimsuit part,” Seiverling said.

Many people agree that the physical fitness portion of a pageant, otherwise known as the swimsuit competition, is probably the most outdated and unnerving portion of any pageant. Images of aspiring queens-to-be parading around on stage wearing bathing suits and heels have led many people to assume most pageants are not only outdated but that they indeed display women as sex objects, especially since this is where the idea of pageantry that we know today began.

The Miss America Pageant began in Atlantic City during the 1920s as a way of keeping wide-eyed, money-spending tourists around a little longer. The “Bathing Beauty” contest as it was called has since dropped the offensive title, nevertheless keeping the bathing suit attire on the agenda.
“(A) reason for the physical fitness portion is that we want to have a role model who cares about herself enough to be fit,” El-Mahmoud said.

El-Mahmoud said that scores are based on a combination of poise, grace and confidence not solely on the competitors’ physical appearance in a two-piece. However, some competitors may still feel a bit uncomfortable when it comes to wearing such a minimal amount of clothing on a public stage.

“The swimsuit thing bothered my family,” Seiverling said. “I would have preferred athletic wear.”

In order to ease her family’s comfort, Seiverling opted for more conservative attire during the physical fitness portion.

“I was practically wearing shorts,” she said.

Seiverling may have felt uncomfortable on stage, but many believe that segments such as the physical fitness portion are necessary to help participants build confidence.

“Walking in high heels and a bathing suit — that skill is never going to help you do anything in life except boost your confidence,” Levey said.

Valerie Rojas can be reached at skalivornia@hotmail.com.