Some of you might have seen NDTV’s The Big Fight, aired a couple of weeks ago, where the subject under discussion was beauty pageants, the choice of subject being prompted, I presume, by the Miss Femina beauty contest. Yet another beauty pageant and yet another occasion for the expression of strong feelings and a big fight! Fortunately, there has not been a recurrence of the ugly and violent protests that took place in Bangalore some years ago against the Miss World contest organised by the Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd. If memory serves me right, so virulent were the demonstrators that expediency prompted the shift of the swimsuit section to the Seychelles, where the beach-happy populace had no objection to bikinis. But feelings continue to run high.
Discussing the programme, a friend of mine said that she had always felt that there was something a little demeaning about beauty contests – at least for the contestants. “To be assessed by one’s legs, one’s smile, one’s waistline, one’s shiny hair,” she explained, “always seems vaguely reminiscent of those awful bride inspections!” Of course, sponsors and contestants alike insist that beauty queens are not judged solely on the basis of their faces and vital statistics. Given equal consideration, they say, are factors such as personality, brains and their capacity to do good.
Be that as it may, what any of us think is of no consequence. All that matters is that the young women competing are there of their own free will. No one has forced them to take part at gunpoint, nor dragged them by their hair on to the platform. What is more, they have a ball doing what they do. For the lucky ones, there is a further bonanza. When the winners are announced, many of them are richer by several thousands of rupees or dollars. They are also noticed, and many doors open, providing opportunities not dreamt of before. You could almost say that such contests empower women.
But sponsors are not there just to give these beauties a good time. Far from being altruistic, they have their own agenda. For them beauty pageants mean big business. A boost in tourism is one aspect. The advertising industry also reaps benefits. Equally the fashion industry thrives. Perhaps most pertinent is the vested interest that beauty product manufacturers have in promoting such pageants. Can one really doubt that the huge market that this country offers for their products is the reason for the world’s sudden discovery of Indian beauties over the last few years?
However, activists continue to make angry protests. They vociferously object to the entry of multinational cosmetics cartels, they talk of the need to preserve the Indian heritage, they decry the ‘commodifying’ of women, they rant and rave about the sexist nature of beauty contests, of the lack of respect to women and the undermining of their dignity, of the undesirability of raising the testosterone levels of our ever susceptible men. But their voices are like candles in the wind. And so they should be. Whether or not, people find beauty pageants distasteful, in the ultimate analysis, it is a matter of choice.
