After reading about society’s gender expectations and themes in my WGS 105 class, I feel that the controversial subject of beauty pageants hits the nail right on the head with this topic. According to my professor, gender is defined as characteristics or qualities that are assigned to people or things based on an assumed correlation to sex. The most common example in American society is that it is widely assumed that little girls would rather play with dolls over trucks, and prefer the color pink over blue. Being born with the biological organs of a female does not automatically mean that one will be more attracted to the color pink than blue, but it is society that constructs this gender theme.
Another theme that society has constructed is the participation of young girls in beauty pageants. The world of pageants is extremely feminine focused. As depicted in the hit TLC series, Toddlers & Tiaras, little girls enter into beauty pageants with the driving force of their “stage moms”. Here, they are molded into epitomes of the ideal female, straight-jacketed into over-the-top fluffy dresses adorned with abundant amounts of sequins, glitter, and lace. Their innocent baby faces are painted with lavish blush, eyeliner, lipstick, and more glitter. Ever-present are the pageant essentials of false eyelashes, false teeth, and wigs or hairpieces. These tots, who look more like extremely short women in their early twenties, are taught to grace the stage with their movie-star smiles (thanks to that famous set of fake teeth, aka “flipper”) as they prance around in circles finished off with curtsies. They are escorted back into the dressing room after their initial performance, and polished off with more makeup, hair, and glitter. The girls enter their first of many outfit changes, and are rushed back onto the stage in another exuberant tutu, bikini, or excessively glittered getup. By the end of the day, after a tumultuous series of showoff, the girls are exhausted and cranking. The three-year-old in them finally begins to show through as they piss their mothers off with a toddler-like tantrum filled with tears. But can you blame them? A room full of exhausted toddlers are forced to wait impatiently as their mothers wait for the coveted superficial titles of “Most Beautiful”, “Best Smile”, “Best Hair”, “Best Dressed”, “Prettiest Eyes”, and “Miss Grand Supreme”. Sashes, trophies, and mile-high tiaras are piled onto these sleeping beauties, many times at the envy of fuming mothers who seem to think that they are competing themselves instead of their daughters. After a weekend filled with sparkles, competition, endless gender stereotypes, and the color pink, the toddlers are finally able to return to their normal preschooler life.
Regardless of the moral and ethical challenges surrounding this controversial lifestyle, pageantry shines a whole new light on societal gender expectations and stereotypes. When little girls are judged in beauty pageants on their looks, femininity, and poise, they are being forced to act like dolls and exhibit the most “proper” feminine behavior. These pageants reinforce the stereotype that girls need to look, dress, and behave in a specific manner. The goal of such pageants is to “accentuate” womanly qualities, and only womanly qualities. As a result, young girls who participate in them are forced to grow up with the misconception that they must consent to what society stereotypes them as.
For example, the pretty dresses, sophisticated shoes, and mature swimwear are complemented by a talent portion that usually consists of singing and dancing. Although the talent presented is not necessarily required to be “feminine”, a contestant will usually never stray from girly dancing or singing because a more traditionally masculine act like self-defense moves or sports will not receive as many points on behalf of the judges because they do not exhibit as much poise and beauty. Also emphasizing society’s stereotypes of women is the interview portion of that is usually more popular among the older teenager age in pageantry. The goal of the interview portion is for the candidate to reinforce their eloquence and intelligence. In society, women are expected to be “agreeable” and to not hold strong opinions, let alone voice them. While competing in an interview on stage, the girl must act “ladylike”, in the sense of not debating or arguing widely publicized topics with a judge, and holding moderate opinions, rather than liberal or conservative ones.
With that being said, while pageant parents argue that the experience will empower their daughters and boost their confidence, it actually seems that pageantry only empowers girls to be as feminine as they possibly can and makes them confident in the fact that they are a “lady”. Beauty pageants play a prominent role in reinforcing the gender roles and stereotypes constructed by society. The reason you don’t see many boys participating in pageants is because they go against the societal norms of masculinity. For more on boys in beauty pageants, please look forward to my next blog!
Katie Duff - 1st blog post
Toddlers & Tiaras. The Learning Channel.
http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/toddlers-tiaras
http://sc2218.wetpaint.com/page/Gender+themes
No comments:
Post a Comment