sure, these ladies are pretty and they can answer questions in a perky way…
but why do women still participate in beauty pageants? it seems so outdated…maybe I don’t understand it all, but it seems old fashioned, vain, boring, and insulting on some levels (the parading around in a lavish dress desperate for the judges’ approval, then posturing in an unfashionable swimsuit, then answering totally stupid questions, etc).
I’m sure alot of men enjoy these pretty ladies parading around on stage, etc, but I still don’t understand why they do it. I would be embarrassed to participate, it’s all so staged and fake. Besides, what do the contestants gain? (besides a couple of short lived endorsements for the winner).
I don’t know. I’m from a small town and this kind of thing was so important to everyone–I always thought it was ridiculous and never understood why girls put so much effort into it (going to pageant training, learning to walk/wave to a crowd, stand, answer questions, etc). So while they were learning all of this, I was out riding my bike all over southern ohio…lol. (it was a lotus, and very pretty. it got stolen unfortunately)
When I was in college at UC I was dating a chick who was Miss Ohio. I got dragged to a couple of these things and I would tell you it is like being on another planet. The women are superficial and fake, they will stab each other in the back faster than anyone would believe. I suppose it could lead to some big things professionally for the winner, but the chick I was dating does commercials for the local news up here. She is hardly a superstar now.
“I’m sure alot of men enjoy these pretty ladies parading around on stage…”
Remember Chris Rock’s statement about what kind of men watch the Oscars? Same goes for beauty pageants. Now if they had wet T-shirt or mud-wrestling instead of formals and “end world hunger” speeches, I think male viewership would be up.
I’m with you kc, I never understood the pageant mentality.
I suppose the activity itself is not that far removed from professional modelling which is not that far removed from pornography. When Freud said “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar”, I’m sure he never had beauty pageants in mind.
I also think there is an element of competition to it - the contestants must have some desire to compete in some way… to seek external validation even.
see, you know what I’m talking about…it’s got to be awful. why do women do this stuff? ultimately though, I guess that there are alot of men who enjoy these types of women…the trophy wife types.
at the health club where I train there are alot of trophy wives. some of them approaching 45+ years in age. I’ll tell you these women do cardio everyday for a few hours…in desperation to hang onto their trophy status I guess.
it’s a whole other culture.
i went to this podiatrist once who told me something very funny–that men marry one of five types of women:
My wife was Miss Gibraltar 1995 when she was 18 and it was a great experience for her cos she went to the Miss World Show plus other places because of it…she went to South Africa and Sri Lanka amongst other places.
Her sister came third a couple of years back, their cousin won Miss Gibraltar a few year’s back too and so did MY sister…many more years back…so I have an attractive female side to the family I guess! heh heh heh
We have 2 boys and she said if we had had a girl she would rather her NOT enter in beauty contests…here in Gibraltar we have Miss everything from a very young age so its ingrained in our culture too…but not like I see in the USA were it’s taken more seriously…there’s more of a ‘for fun’ attitude here from what i see…
Anyway…over in Spain it’s really big too so it’s very much a latin thing too…though South America takes the biscuit…want a thinner waist…take out a rib sort of thing…it’s true!
I wanted to marry my wife 'cos she has a great ass, great legs, a beautiful face, great skin…oh, and she’s nice too…and she actually like sto be treated well…not like a lot of women I hear of…“treat them mean to keep them keen” crap…
So, initially that stuff matters: animal attraction…the personality thing comes in later…no matter how great they look if they’re total idiots you won’t stay with a person would you??? same goes for men and women as you know…
Trophy wives, trophy husbands…that’s not a conclusive argument…
geeze, it was meant in a lighthearted manner. I’m not the one who said it! somedays I look like a bag lady, other days I look like a beauty queen. obviously people aren’t canned. it was a joke that my perverted podiatrist told me, that’s all.
Their parents get them into this when they start walking! I was at a meeting several years ago and in one of the other meeting rooms they where having a pageant for kids. It was scary, kids not much more than 4 or 5 years old, putting on makeup, little prom dresses and their parents lecturing to them on how to dance, pose, etc… Most of the parents where the drivers of this Titanic! I hope my daughter never gets into that! Time for operation tomboy!
Just to throw the another side of the story out there…I had a friend in college that had done the Mis this and Miss that stuff in HS and College. She seemed to enjoy it and it basically paid for her college education (think tution of 17+ thousand a year back then).
I am not sure I know anyone who would watch one of these pagents. I know I have never seen one. However, someone and some advertisers must watch or they would not be on TV.
I agree with the poster who said the IMHawaii broadcast is not much different. It is not about the race. It is all about the “special interest stories” they can show.
Although I must agree, the whole miss America/USA deal seems very outdated. I just don’t see that many people care these days. You can find pretty girls to look at everywhere in today’s mass media/internet.
However, the miss America/USA Fear Factor episodes, hold a particularly twisted interest on my part.
LOL too funnyd your podiatrist might not be much off the mark!
We had this conversation with the bike group one day, trying to explain to the ladies how we men make snap decisions about the opposite sex. This was all in jest but I am sure there is some truth in there some where!
We men are generally simple creatures so we need to have things broken down in simple logical categories. When it comes to women it was debated that men generally use the 3 following categories. At least this is our group hypothesis! The range runs from:
a) quicky no names no commitment - instant animal attraction and get it over and done with.
b) dinner date - incredible company on an intellectual and physical level - real GF type.
c) take home meet the family and have kids
Generally, men put women into one of the three categories, however it does not mean the categories are mutual exclusive and that the same woman cannot move from one to another in the man’s estimation.
Your Podiatrist broke down category C even further.
BTW I cant stand pageant shows of any kind, never understood them. I must confess Miss Congeniality made me laugh so hard partly b/c I can see my better half in Miss Bullock’s predicament (high heels, the donuts etc)
As far as pageants, I watched it last night while riding my trainer. It’s stupid, and they have creepy smiles but they do wear those gowns nicely … I can see it as another opportunity for people to achieve … something. When I was student teaching one girl i taught went on to become Miss Teen USA. Of course she was tall and pretty and articulate (some of those gals are not) but she was also talented (singer) and exceptional in her complete and utter confidence, which so many women lack.
Sure its ridiculous, but so are sports, really, when you think about it. Gibraltar dude is right: It’s huge in Latin America and its huge in much of Africa, too. I thought it was demneaning, etc. as a PC college student, but now I see it is just a part of the fabric of Western culture. We are lucky in the U.S. because women now can achieve in many arenas,so pageants play a minor role in our culture, IMO. In poor countries, pageants are one of the few means women have to show off, to become famous, hotshots in their province, win money, etc. Not sayings its good or bad, just the truth.
very interesting, I never thought about it this way.
as for me, I think I fit into the girl next door catagorey–very low key and cool about things, never a nag (i think I nag some of you guys here on ST more than I nag my husband), fun, and sporty. in general my husband and I pal around alot and act like a couple of dorks–well, maybe him more than me, I’m usually cracking up at his comedic antics, or trying to walk away totally embarrassed.
I knew a former Miss Canada from 30 yrs ago. She was actually a down to earth smart gal and used her title to get her a job in the TV industry. She’s just another fifty year old now, divorced with a couple of kids like many of us.
I agree, it does seem like a throw back to a different era.