Beauty pageants here in the Philippines are seen as an opportunity for Filipino women who dream of having a good life. He is commonly associated with a better future that awaits him after winning the competition. It cannot be denied that Filipino women are exposed to it from a young age, as it is an essential activity in any community celebration. Be it barangay parties or international beauty pageants seen on television. For this reason, Filipinos are obsessed with beauty pageants and the privileges that come with them. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayAccording to Asilum (2016), the culture of beauty pageants began when the Manila carnival queens were crowned in 1908. The first Miss Manila Carnival was awarded to Pura Garcia Villanueva of Iloilo (Garcia, 2016). Filipino beauty pageant culture is linked to the search for what best defines beauty; the desire for this concept to be actualized. The Filipinos' view on the concept of beauty also has its negative implications. For example, women who participate in the competition must have the best body shape; To achieve this, they do a lot of lunges and strange movements (Enriquez, 2014). They walk like ducks on ramps with books on them just to perfect the standard posture that attracts judges during the competition. The love of beauty is the only reason why aspiring beauty queens tend to do all the most ridiculous things they can do, as long as it helps them achieve their respective goals. I believe that beauty pageants teach women that instead of striving for a career, being focused and achieving academically, they are shown that beauty is more important. This has led to a situation where women are pressured to follow the standards set by the people. According to Dr. Mina Roces, a professor at the University of New South Wales who has focused her research on women's history in the Philippines, noted that pageants are harmful to women because they promote unrealistic beauty standards that few people can achieve. Height requirements and ideal body types for pageants are the reason for this because it fits a certain pattern and having this unrealistic standard as a stereotype for women, some people who don't fit the "ideal" would feel less fulfilled as a person and as a woman. .It also affects women's self-esteem, which can be problematic. As Joe Rivera (2009) quotes Naomi Klein in his book, The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty are Used Against Women: "Every day, new products are introduced to 'correct' inherently feminine 'flaws,' leading women into obsessive and desperate behavior. cycle built around trying to achieve an impossible standard of beauty. Beauty pageants have become a way to objectify women, arguing that there is a standard of beauty that causes the "ordinary" female population to aspire to things they could not reasonably achieve (Rivera, 2009). . This case of objectification of beauty is unfortunately observable in beauty pageants, particularly in the Philippines. These pageants impose a very specific “type” of woman and, in doing so, they invalidate and demean the majority of other women who do not. meet these requirements. It's this kind of objectification of women - viewing women as sources ofpleasure – which makes some people uncomfortable with competitions; and rightly so. Some people would disagree with the competition objectifying women due to the question and answer portions included in some beauty pageants. While I admit that this gives the contestant an opportunity to show off outside of the physical realm, there is a long-standing expectation of an awkward failure in the middle of this segment of the competition, curated both by viewers and the judges. Beauty must go hand in hand with personality and substance, or so we are told. This is why beauty pageants allocate a question-and-answer part to highlight the intellect of the candidates. But why, for a show that lasts 2-3 hours, only 5 to 10 minutes are allocated to the question-and-answer part for the finalists? Additionally, they only have to answer one question. Whether they are asked to prepare rehearsed speeches or to think about their answers on the spot, the mechanics of the show clearly do not do justice to the intelligence of the candidate, nor to his personality which cannot be deciphered through a single question . Five minutes of answering questions about world peace can't make up for about an hour of shameless catwalks, incessant photos, and superficial modeling. Advocates also argue that it can empower women, many of whom can take genuine pride in their appearance. In response to this, there's no denying that having a woman who feels good about herself is a good thing - I'm happy for her - but it's still not fair to let women compete against each other based primarily on on their physical appearance. . You can't deny that these competitions have demands that not every woman can meet; therefore outcast most women who do not belong to the societal vision of beauty. I say we should find more meaningful ways to empower women because the effort and resources put into organizing these pageants could definitely be put to better use.PredictionIn my opinion, the ideal beauty pageant and its contestants would then include more reality. I would like to see fewer fake breasts and injected noses and more real body sizes and shapes; a realistic standard of beauty. I would like the industry to give its candidates a chance to show substance and a significant part of their spirit and character. It’s not just about asking more questions, but also about presenting sophisticated questions to candidates. If beauty pageants follow a more relative, fairer and more lenient system, it can change the outlook of society in a way that would help them understand the true concept of beauty. and guarantee fairness and equality for women. This would show that women are not just about physical attributes. We should stop insinuating this notion into women's heads because it would make them lose confidence, or even upset their bodies. We each have our own identity and our own quirks. Another way to solve this problem, according to Roces (2018), is to become aware of the gender inequality internalized by Filipinos, and therefore be determined to resist it. Beauty pageants are a challenge for feminists, so what we need to do is give women a feminist consciousness - that it is not just beauty and physical appearance that makes a woman beautiful - and broaden the definition of woman. We should build a society in which women can walk with pride in their appearance. An environment in which the most important validation women will seek will come.