Beauty pageants are part of a type of competition that hopes to define femininity and self-love, but ends up doing the opposite. This essay explores the ethical concerns of beauty pageants, such as the objectification of women, the reinstatement of Eurocentric beauty standards, and the promotion of harmful ideas that affect women's self-image. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The primary ethical concern of beauty pageants is the objectification of women. Battistoni (2013) argues that beauty pageants fuel rivalry between contestants by displaying them on stage; Despite claims that pageants have become modern, it must be acknowledged that they historically began as swimsuit competitions. It then became profitable after gaining popularity and led businessmen to sell goods through the display of women's bodies (Battistoni, 2013, p. 37). This shows that the purpose of women in pageants at the time was to advertise the products and wear them well, and that there was more care for their bodies and their immaculate appearance rather than for what they had to say as people: they acted simply as bearers of feminine charm. to satisfy the needs of money-hungry men. As Wright (2017) stated: “The female body, as a subject, is the main focal point rather than the focus of her identity as a competitor.” (p. 126). There is no doubt that pageants have relentlessly transformed women's bodies into something to be observed and evaluated when in reality "girls need to know their abilities, their intellect, their courage, their sense of humor and their ways. in which others are treated." (Peacock, 2018, p. 3). Another ethical concern regarding beauty pageants is the emphasis on Eurocentric beauty standards. This can be seen in pageants such as Miss America, Miss World, and Miss Universe: a racial bias is evident (Zhong & Wilkes, 2013). Although Miss America was born in 1921, Vanessa Williams became the first African American woman to win the title in 1983 (Trammell, 2019). However, the African-American community “wondered whether William's green eyes and golden brown hair made her black enough” (Watson & Martin, 2000, p. 113) as she embodied the stereotypical Western beauty standard (Watson & Martin, 2000). ). All previous Miss World and Miss Universe title holders also demonstrate that the winners, regardless of their origin, have “semi-Caucasian features” and “much lighter skin than national norms” (Gutierrez, 2018, p. 15) . The Miss India controversy that happened in 2019 was an example of this, where close-ups of all the candidates were released - this sparked outrage across communities as all the women were "light-skinned" and did not look like reality of most Indian women (Linning, 2019 ). This suggests that there are underlying tones of a pro-Western appearance, which is considered the "most" attractive, regardless of where the show is held. Although pageants have become more diverse over the years (Williams, 2013), the image of Caucasian women is still considered the highest level of beauty. Furthermore, in 2019, despite being the very first African American woman to win Miss Universe, Zozibini Tunzi claimed that even her friends advised her to wear a wig or weave (Prinzivalli, 2019). It is therefore not surprising that people from different cultures end up conforming to a more dominant beauty ideal: the implicit preference for Caucasian features is destructive and.