by Tammyjo Eckhart

Created on: July 31, 2009

I'm going to take a different look at this issue than most of the other articles by focusing on who can enter beauty contests and the available alternatives to these pageants. Most of the articles so far have focused on what qualifies as beauty or what affect these competitions may have on the general image and aspirations of women but I do not think those questions are honestly issues of sexism.

Beauty contests are sexist if and only if the discriminate on the basis of sex, meaning biological sex. In other words, these events need to bar competitors on something they have no control over - their biological sex something not even a sex change can honestly change but which future genetics tampering might.

In fact these world wide pageant do discriminate on the basis of biological sex. They discriminate against males who are denied access to the competitions and do not have their own beauty contests.

Men have their own competitions this is true. Think for a moment about all those other contests in which men compete. Can you think of one where women do not have their own version of the event or where women are barred from striving for success? I can't think of one as we near the end of the first decade of the 21st century. So-called "men's beauty contests" such as "Mr. Universe," "Mr. World," "Manhunt," and "Mister International" are attempt to create some sort of balance but they really grow from the muscle contests which women also compete for in separate, often parallel events.

It's a good thing that women have earned the right to compete with men or to have their own events. It took hundreds of years, a lot of hard work, and brave women to break down those barriers sometimes with the help of the legal system and sometimes in spite of it.

However, while women have made strides in their desire to compete with men or to explore similar events, men are often derided for attempting to compete in what are considered "women's spheres" and beauty pageants are one of these. There are a few competition for young boys out and the previously mentioned men's events are making minor headway, there so perhaps, in time, young men will be parading in swim wear, evening wear, and answering questions about how they feel about war in the Middle East.

Until that happens, beauty contests remain one of the most sexist institutions in the Western world today. Whether or not beauty contest are a healthy thing for the individual or societies which hold them are an entirely different question and one which should be addressed just not under this subject.

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