Beauty pageants are a type of competition that hopes to define femininity and self-esteem, but end up doing the opposite. This essay explores the ethical concerns of beauty pageants, such as the objectification of women, the reestablishment of Eurocentric beauty standards, and the promotion of harmful ideas that affect women's self-image. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The primary ethical concern of beauty pageants is the objectification of women. Battistoni (2013) asserts that beauty pageants maintain rivalry between competitors by exposing them on stage; Despite claims that pageants have become modern, it must be recognized that historically they began as swimsuit competitions. It later became lucrative after gaining popularity and led to businessmen selling products by displaying women's bodies (Battistoni, 2013, p. 37). This shows that the goal of women in pageants at the time was to advertise the products and wear them well, and that more care was taken of their bodies and their immaculate appearance rather than what they had to say as people - they simply acted as containers of feminine charms. to satisfy the needs of money-hungry men. As Wright (2017) put it: “The female body, as a subject, is the main focal point rather than the center of her identity as a candidate. » (p. 126). There is no doubt that pageants have continually transformed women's bodies into something to be observed and evaluated when in reality, "girls need to know their skills, their intellect, their courage, their sense of purpose." 'humor and their treatment of others'. (Peacock, 2018, p. 3). Another ethical concern regarding beauty pageants is the emphasis on Eurocentric beauty standards. This can be observed in pageants like Miss America, Miss World and Miss Universe: a racial preference is evident (Zhong and Wilkes, 2013). Although Miss America was born in 1921, Vanessa Williams became the first African American woman to win the title in 1983 (Trammell, 2019). However, the African American community "questioned whether William's green eyes and golden brown hair made her 'black enough'" (Watson & Martin, 2000, p. 113) since she embodied the stereotypical Western standard of beauty ( Watson and Martin, 2000). ). All previous Miss World and Miss Universe titleholders also prove that winners, regardless of their origin, have “semi-Caucasian features” and “much lighter skin than national standards” (Gutierrez, 2018, p. 15). An example of this was the Miss India controversy that took place in 2019, where close-ups of all the contestants were published. This sparked outrage in the communities because all the women were “light skin” and did not have what most Indian women actually look like (Linning, 2019). ). This suggests that there are underlying tones of a pro-Western appearance, considered most attractive regardless of where the pageant is held. Even though pageants have become more diverse over the years (Williams, 2013), the image of Caucasian women is still considered the highest level of beauty. Additionally, in 2019, despite being the first true African American woman to win Miss Universe, Zozibini Tunzi claimed that even her friends advised her to wear a wig or weave (Prinzivalli, 2019). It is therefore not surprising that people from diverse cultures end up.