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A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes solely so, but most modern beauty pageants have since expanded to also judge contestants based on "inner beauty"—their individual traits and characteristics, including personality, intelligence, aptitude, moral character, and charity. Though typically perceived as a female-oriented competition, male beauty pageants also exist, as do child beauty pageants for youth.
The term beauty pageant refers originally to the Big Four beauty pageants: Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss International, and Miss Earth. Hundreds and thousands of beauty contests are held annually, but the Big Four are considered the most prestigious, and are widely covered and broadcast by news media. The earliest formal beauty pageants were held in the 19th century, although similar informal events date back to at least the post-classical period. Modern beauty pageants were first established in the early 20th century, with their popularity later boosted by the establishment of international pageants in the mid-20th century. Reforms of pageants in the 21st century marked a shift from primarily focusing on physical appearance to placing more weight on other characteristics.
Beauty pageants are generally multi-tiered, with local competitions feeding into the larger competitions; for example, the international pageants have hundreds or thousands of local competitions. The organizers of each pageant may determine the competition rules, including the age range of contestants. The rules may also require the contestants to be unmarried, and be virtuous, amateur, and available for promotions, besides other criteria. It may also set the clothing standards in which contestants will be judged, including such as formal wear, swimsuit, sportswear, or designer clothing. Possible awards of beauty contests include titles, , crowns, , Flower bouquet, Sceptre, , , and prize money. The winner of a beauty contest is generally called a beauty queen for female pageants and a beauty king for male pageants. Pageant titles are often subdivided into Miss, Mrs. or Ms., and Teen, to clearly identify the difference between pageant divisions. The rankings of the contestants are referred to as placements.
In addition to these aesthetic contests, there were other competitions in ancient Greece that blended beauty with physical excellence. These were the Euandria (εὐανδρία) and Euexia (εὐεξία), both part of agonistic festivals. The Euandria was likely a display of masculine beauty where physical size and strength played a key role in judging. The Euexia, by contrast, resembled a modern physique or fitness competition. It emphasized symmetry, muscle tone, posture, and overall health and vitality, rather than sheer bulk. Male « Beauty » contests in Greece : The Euandria and Euexia, N. B. Crowther, L'Antiquité Classique, Année 1985, 54, pp. 285-291
A beauty pageant was held during the Eglinton Tournament of 1839, organized by Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton, as part of a re-enactment of a medieval joust that was held in Scotland. The pageant was won by Georgiana Seymour, Duchess of Somerset, the wife of Edward Seymour, 12th Duke of Somerset, and sister of Caroline Norton, and she was proclaimed as the "Queen of Beauty". Beauty contests became more popular in the 1880s. In 1888, the title of 'beauty queen' was awarded to an 18-year-old Creole peoples contestant at a pageant in Spa, Belgium. All participants had to supply a photograph and a short description of themselves to be eligible to enter and a final selection of 21 was judged by a formal panel. Such events were not regarded as respectable. In 1880, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware held the first recorded beauty pageant in the United States, searching for "the most beautiful unmarried woman in our nation" and awarding her the title of Miss United States.
The popularity of the Miss America pageant prompted other organizations to establish similar contests in the 1950s and beyond. Some were significant while others were trivial, such as the National Donut Queen contest. The Miss World contest started in 1951, Miss Universe started in 1952, as did Miss USA. Miss International started in 1960. Miss Asia Pacific International, which started in 1968, is the first and oldest beauty pageant in Asia. The Miss Black America contest started in 1968 in response to the exclusion of African American women from the Miss America pageant. The Miss Universe Organization started the Miss Teen USA in 1983 for the 14–19 age group. Miss Earth started in 2001, which channels the beauty pageant entertainment industry to actively promote the preservation of the environment. These contests continue to this day.
| 1951: The first winner, Kiki Håkansson from Sweden, was crowned in a bikini. Countries with religious traditions threatened to withdraw delegates, and Pope Pius XII condemned the crowning as sinful. 1952: Swimsuits toned down to more modest designs. 1996: Miss World contest was held in Bangalore, India, but the swimsuit round was shifted to Seychelles because of intense protests. 2013: The swimsuit round was dropped because of Islamist protests in Bali, Indonesia, where the contest took place. 2015: The Beach Fashion segment of the pageant was dropped. | |
| Samut Prakan, Thailand New York City, United States Mexico City, Mexico | 1952: Bikinis banned. 1997: Contestants allowed to wear bikinis. 2021: Bikinis made optional. Contestants are allowed to wear during swimsuit competition. |
| 1964: Bikinis made mandatory. 2023: The swimsuit parade to replaced by Lingerie parade. | |
| 2003: Vida Samadzai from Afghanistan participating in a bikini caused an uproar in her home country. Asia: Afghanistan: Anti-Pageant Judges, The New York Times 2017: The "Beauty of Form and Figure" preliminary judging in Miss Earth 2017 was introduced where the delegates walked in white two-piece bikinis while their faces were covered by a white veil to focus the judgment on the body figures in this portion. |
The Miss World pageant has had 3 cases of dethronement or resignation instances:
In its early years, there were two instances where the reigning Miss Universe opted to resign from her position: Armi Kuusela, Miss Universe 1952 from Finland, who held the distinction of being the first Miss Universe winner to give up her crown in less than a year to marry Filipino businessman Virgilio Hilario while Amparo Muñoz, Miss Universe 1974 of Spain refused to travel to Japan and instead resigned after six months of her reign. However, since the pageant had no concrete rule on resignation at that time, they were allowed to keep their titles.
In Miss Earth, the 2002 winner, Dzejla Glavovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was dethroned of her crown six months into her reign, after she failed to show up at several environmental events. According to Carousel Productions, organizer of the Miss Earth contest, Glavovic was dethroned because of "her inability to fulfill the duties and responsibilities as the Miss Earth titleholder, in accordance with the rules and regulations set forth in the Miss Earth contract that she signed." She was succeeded by first runner-up Winfred Omwakwe of Kenya as Miss Earth 2002.
In Miss International, Ikumi Yoshimatsu, Miss International 2012 was the first titleholder of the pageant from Japan to be dethroned shortly before the end of her reign. She was ordered by the International Culture Association (Miss International organizer) to skip the succession ceremony and "play sick and shut up" out of fear of scandal. The Miss International organizer cited the reason for her dethronement was due to her involvement in a contract dispute with a talent agency in which she claimed that she was pressured to sign by Burning Productions, a film production company which is rumored to be linked with the Japanese underworld, but she refused and went ahead by starting her own company. Yoshimatsu filed criminal charges against one of Japan's most powerful talent agency executives, Genichi Taniguchi of Burning Productions, for allegedly stalking, intimidating, and harassing her.
Besides the international beauty pageants, numerous minor competitions exist throughout the world displaying the different perceptions of beauty. Some examples of criteria to select beauty queens that are unique to certain culture. The Miss India USA pageant uses Indian history and traditional craft skills as its specialties, while the Miss Howard University competition takes advantage of the principles of "black beauty". The winner is often viewed as a model for the "ideal" community member. Through the competitions, the contestants can learn how to present themselves in public and how to cultivate certain traits such as confidence or poise. In some cases, the competitors are selected to act as a representative on behalf of the community. In the African American community of Howard University, the selected Miss Howard University served as advocates for the Civil Rights Movement in the decades following the 1960s. Additionally, the Miss Landmine competition situated in Angola allow victims to serve as advocates on behalf of other victims of mining accidents.
Researchers suggest that the emergence of beauty pageants in countries outside the United States is linked to an economic boom geared towards a more consumeristic lifestyle. "In India, the growth of the personal care industry coincided with increased participation in national beauty pageants. Additionally, after China hosted about 6 international beauty pageants in 2004, the beauty industry increased in influence in the area. At the same time, the number of regional beauty pageants in the country increased.
The London Feminist Network argues that rather than being empowering, beauty pageants do the opposite: denying women's full humanity by subjecting them to objectification, denying their full humanity by maintaining that their primary purpose is to be attractive. Beginning in 1981, the International Year of the Disabled Person, campaigners in Australia targeted beauty pageants in order to, in the words of activist Leslie Hall, "challenge the notion of beauty" and "reject the charity ethic." High-profile demonstrations led to some charities abandoning their use of such contests for fundraising and also saw some remove offensive language from their organisational titles.
Another criticism is in the way beauty pageant is quantifiably scored as highlighted by the "Myth of the Perfect 10". Beauty becomes a numerical coefficient in ranking contestants, and this type of scoring still remains followed as a system even in nationwide beauty pageants such as Miss America.
Researchers suggest that these events strengthen skills, such as interpersonal communications, self-assurance, and public speaking, which prove to be useful in future career paths.
In 2017, Carousel Productions was criticized for objectifying women during the Miss Earth 2017 competition where delegates wore swimsuits during the event with their faces concealed by a veil in the Beauty of Figure and Form, a segment first introduced in the Miss Philippines Earth 2017 pageant. It was one of the three preliminary judging segments of the pageant that include Poise and Beauty of Face and Environmental and Intelligence Competition. The organizers defended the "beauty of figure and form" segment and released a statement that the said round was intended to promote strict impartiality during pre-judging by focusing on the contestants' curves, execution and not beautiful face.
Laura Zúñiga, former Miss Hispanic America, was detained with her boyfriend and six other people, and charged with racketeering, drug trafficking, weapons violations, and money laundering. When apprehended, they had multiple handguns and roughly $53,000 in cash.
At the Miss Teen USA 2007 pageant, Caitlin Upton gained international notoriety for her convoluted and nonsensical response to a question posed to her during the August 2007 national pageant. During the pageant, judge Aimee Teegarden asked: "Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can't locate the U.S. on a world map. Why do you think this is?". Upton responded:
As a guest on NBC's The Today Show, Upton told Ann Curry and Matt Lauer that she was overwhelmed when asked the question and did not comprehend it correctly.
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