Miss Universe

Kara Bimschleger

Miss Universe

Eighty-six beautiful women from all over the world fled to Moscow, Russia for the 62^nd Annual Miss Universe Pageant, but only one woman can wear the crown. NBC’s Media Net announced that almost one billion viewers tuned in to the pageant, from over 190 different countries worldwide. With the pageant happening November 9^th, NBC says the one billion viewers boosted the Miss Universe ratings during an all-important month for ratings. This viewership is up from prior years, with NBC press releases stating the 2012 competition raked in 6.1 million viewers in the 18-49 category with a 1.8/5 rating, while 2011 was 5.3 million viewers with a 1.6 rating. Factors such as time of airing may play a factor in these ratings. This program however, is one of the few to properly and consistently draw this audience demographic, seeing as this program is only once a year. But to fill those 364 days of non-Miss Universe airing, viewers have several other pageant options to fill their screens. It is no secret our society-or shall I say universe- is obsessed with pageantry- and of all ages! According to Wikipedia, the first American pageant was in 1854. Now in 2013, the trend has rapidly grown and there are currently 250,000 contestants in beauty pageants. Of that number, 100,000 contestants are under the age of 12. This may be a result of the popular TLC show, Toddlers and Tiaras. Children show fascination in beauty pageants from an early age because they see it as a way to play permanent dress up. Many young girls dress up as beauty pageant contestants-and winners-for Halloween and other occasions. Other forms of media like Toddlers and Tiaras to fill the time between pageants are popular films like Miss Congeniality. This trend is a unique one that has extreme consistency as a whole structure, yet subtle uniqueness and change throughout the years. Changes can be as simple as the type of bathing suit worn by the contestants, to the amount of advertising and product placement within the pageant. The benefits and results of beauty pageants have also changed over the years. Beginning at trivia events to promoting self-esteem and public speaking skills, to now associating organizations contestants are connected to. The Miss Universe organization functions as a platform for women passionate to help others, yet simultaneously showcases the trend of beauty pageants and the increasing societal problem of materialism, body expectations, and stereotypes on young women that accompanies such pageants.

I’m a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world. Now, I’ve never been to Barbie’s world, but I’m assuming it would look a lot like the hotel the Miss Universe contestants stayed at a few weeks ago in Moscow. This growing desire of being the most beautiful is taking over pageants-and society- with the help of materialistic goods. Women feel hair and makeup will make them beautiful and in a contestant’s case, they will win the pageant, which often means a scholarship or cash prize. Wikipedia’s first line under beauty pageants reads, ‘A beauty pageant or beauty contest is a competition that mainly focuses on the physical beauty of its contestants…” This supports the idea of materialism and appearance as the main focus people think beauty pageants are about. When anyone thinks of Miss America or Miss Universe, they probably think of evening gowns, swimsuits, and heavy hair and makeup. An afterthought is probably the charitable work these women do. This is my exact point, and I’m sure anyone will support my statement if asked what the first thing that comes to his or her mind about a beauty pageant is.  

The stereotype of a woman and of a woman’s body is portrayed through the Miss Universe pageant rather clearly. All of the women are skinny and beautiful, which maintains the stereotype and expectation of a beauty pageant contestant. While Wikipedia states, “Miss America, the first pageant of its kind, has made an effort to ensure that it does not appear as a ‘stereotypical’ pageant”, this effort has clearly failed. When watching the program, the structure of the show is as follows: introductions, top 16 announced, swimsuit competition, top 10 announced, meet the top 10 and their hobbies (most of which were childhood hobbies they are pretending to continue), and then the evening gown competition. After the evening gown competition, the top 5 are announced, and those five women answer a question from the celebrity judges (this year Steven Tyler was among the panel, both Joe and Nick Jonas have been on the panel in the past). These questions are the only aspect of the show where I can see positivity toward society and a brain behind the hair and makeup. Until these questions (in the last 10 minutes of the show), these women are merely subjects to observe and judge based on appearance, which ties into the reason the beauty pageant industry has become so stereotypical and predictable. Not to even mention the bathing suit portion of the show, where women expose 90% of their body and parade around in nothing but a bikini and high heels. During this segment, everyone stares at the woman’s fit physique. But I’m wondering the effect this image is having on female viewers and their own bodies. I worry specifically for young girls since the trend of television is increasingly revolving around beauty pageants. I’m sure eating disorders of some kind are linked to these unrealistic pageant images. It is no secret that there is a growing desire of an idealized body type globally. It is clear by the popularity and dominance of one body type in Miss Universe that everyone in each society wants the same body.

The Miss Universe pageant falls prey to the trend of beauty pageants on television. TV is seemingly covered with this trend, of all forms. From child pageants to the matriarch of all pageants, Miss Universe, everyone is tuning in. This makes for good business for pageants like Miss Universe, who have heavily placed products within their show. For example, all the contestants in Moscow this year wore OPI nail polish, and Chinese Laundry shoes. You can also see the visibility of matching bathing suits and mini dresses at the beginning of the show that a company has put the girls in. The trend of pageantry and Miss Universe on television highlights the increasing reliance of materialistic goods in society as a way of defining beauty, as well as adding to the problem of body expectations and stereotypes on women.