Feminism has many definitions and connotations in the modern world, from simple belief in the equality under law of men and women to the belief that women are inherently disadvantaged in a patriarchic society and must be raised up. Within this discussion, feminism can be defined as the idea that women have, historically, been repressed by men, and that causes which elevate their position are both beneficial and laudable. That is, feminism is the belief in, and action toward, the cause of women’s advancement in society. Using this definition, it is impossible for traditional beauty pageants to co-exist with advanced feminism. Beauty pageants undermine feminism by reducing a woman’s value to her physical appearance and facile talents which have no bearing on her actual ability as a mature individual. It is the duty of a feminist to actively speak out against such objectification, and debasement.
As Bonnie Dow says in “Feminism, Miss America, and Media Mythology,” “the second-wave feminist mantra was the ‘personal is political,’ implying that women’s individual problems were the outgrowth of their political status.”1 What is more personal than the human body? Women have traditionally been viewed as pawns or status symbols, often by the very individuals that carry out beauty pageants. In this way, the personal, the body, became a political tool. In the modern era, it is vital that the personal remain political, in this case through rejection of beauty pageants and what they represent. Dow continues to say that “Generally, by the late 1990s, an ironic tone suffuses media discourse about Miss America.”2 This simply reflects the lack of true feminism in modern society, given the unwillingness to identify the true misogyny of such pageants.
Elaborating on the idea that all women must work together to overcome sexism, Carol
1. Bonnie Dow, “Feminism, Miss America, and Media Mythology,” Rhetoric & Public Affairs 6, no. 1 (2003), 1282. Bonnie Dow, “Feminism, Miss America, and Media Mythology,” Rhetoric & Public Affairs 6, no. 1 (2003), 140
Hanisch argues that “I think we must listen to what so-called a-political women have to say—not
so we can do a better job of organizing them, but because together we are a mass movement.”3 This speaks to women that compete in pageants as well as women that observe them. Hanisch’s central message is that, as was stated above, the personal is political, and all women are innately both personal and political individuals. The pageant industry is diametrically opposed to all feminism strives to accomplish by once again reducing women to simply the personal, not the political.
Feminism is a radical movement, but it is not only for radicals. It should embrace all women who strive to solve the problem of sexism and overcome the patriarchy, together. Women should be raised to be allies to one another, not pitted against each other as they are in beauty pageants. Such pastimes simply highlight the training women receive in opposing one another. As such, regardless as to how many advances women have made, with the pageant industry still prevalent, there has been no true victory for feminism.
3. Carol Hanisch. “The Personal is Political,” Notes from the Second Year: Women’s Liberation (1970): 5
Bibliography
Dow, Bonnie. “Feminism, Miss America, and Media Mythology,” Rhetoric and Public Affairs 6, no 1 (2003): 127-149
Hanisch, Carol. “The Personal is Political.” Notes from the Second Year: Women’s Liberation. (1970): 1-5
