What's Wrong With Liking Some Sparkle?
Prologue.
These definitions are what the general public believes what a pageant is. The common denominators in each definition would be beauty and popularity. People may think that a pageant is nothing but an insult to women. They think that woman presented in pageants are just visual consumption for the benefit of the male gaze. This mainstreaming of beauty contests impacts all women from a young age till now. It makes the young girls choose this option as a lifelong dream, it gives women a body ideal to measure themselves against, it influences how we feel about ourselves and it gives men and boys ideas on how to view and treat women. All of these statements may be true in some eyes, but in mine, they are all misconceptions. While a pageant is there for women to compete against themselves, it is also there for motivation. These women work so incredibly hard on their talent, which is usually a hobby so it shows that they are driven, they work hard on maintaining a healthy lifestyle, they work hard on promoting their platform, which is a foundation or a charity they feel strongly for, and most importantly, they work hard on maintaining high grades to earn scholarships from the Miss America Organization.