In The End

At the end of this blogging process I am very pleased to read and look at all that I have accomplished. At the very beginning I was unsure of how to do a blog and what to blog about, but over the semester I have put together a wonderful blog and I am very proud of my accomplishment. When I look back at the very beginning of my blog and my first posts, I realized I was very unsure of what to do and it was going to become a learning process over the time period. My couple first blogs were very simple and concrete. They were focusing in on what the media was presenting on the idea of beauty pageants and the news that was current that was streaming in negative and positive beauty pageant topics. I looked at the positive side of beauty pageants by discussing my ambassador program and the Miss Minnesota events and then focused in on the negative side by looking at the body image, the negative press and the scandals that were occurring. After looking at both the negative and positive aspects of beauty pageants and ambassador programs, I felt I needed to look further into this topic and analyze the media more. I then looked at the idea of judging and who judges, the idea of child exploitation and lastly I looked at the media and how beauty is portrayed. With these new topics in mind, I found tons of information that was great in leading to my question about the media and beauty pageants/ ambassador programs. At the end of this process, I am very shocked I have found so much information and have a greater sense of the media and the image it promotes beauty pageants. When I realized that blogs were free to expression and that I could blog about anything I would like, I started looking at art. I have always been very interested in art and how this affects the media. I looked at art that portrayed this "beauty" ideal that our society has and also the opposite of that and what our society should look at. After this whole process is done, I now look at my blog and feel that it has been a wonderful experience and I believe it will not end here. I will continue my thoughts about beauty pageants/ambassador programs and how it is displayed in the media. I have come to a broader idea of who is the judge of beauty? Or who tells someone they are "beautiful" and someone else that they did not make the cut? This will be a continuous question that may not be answered right away, or in the future, but more people will ask themselves this and feel what I do about beauty and the media. So for now, but not for long, bye blog!

What is Beauty?

Many woman look at their bodies and find it hard to pick one part of their body that they believe is attractive and beautiful. When woman look at their bodies they tend to judge themselves and pick out what is wrong or their own flaws. This is an interesting picture because it makes me think of myself and other women I know. Many of my friends find one part of their body that they like or men like and then they find the rest of their body ugly and fat. When in reality, women should like their whole bodies but due to society and what it has portrayed women should look like.

You are Beautiful

I found these on Google displaying the idea that every individual is beautiful. I found these very interesting and made me think back to the idea that who is judging this beauty and why do women stand up in front of individuals and have people judge them on their butt, chest and thinghs? I feel that some people may believe this gives women a self confidence but in some cases when a woman does not win she may feel let down and tell herself her body is not good enough.

Beauty in all Different Sizes

Here is a advertisement from Dove that shows off natural beauty! What does society believe about natural beauty? I believe natural beauty is avoided in our society and is not seen as "beautiful". We look at what is beautiful and tell the world we need to be this way instead of natural. I love how dove advocates the different idea of beauty and supports women who feel natural beauty is the best.

Retouching in Beauty Pageant Pictures

Here are pictures I found of retouching on beauty pageant pictures that were judged on. I can't believe how different they look and how much retouching they do. Is this morally correct??

Beauty Pageants

After really analyzing the idea of what is beauty and who judges it, I have come to the conclusion that it is society. Over the years, we have created an image that the world portrays as beauty and what the society sets as standards. The world looks at television and movies that have a "beautiful" looking woman on the screen and the world sees this as what society is suppose to look at. For example, look at Barbie Dolls, little girls play with them and feel they need to grow up and look like them. For beauty pageants, women are suppose to look a certain way and the judges look at this and pick the best looking woman. When a woman is up on stage, a judge will look at their chest, butt, legs and stomach. Then the judge will pick the best looking woman and who has the best happy, flirty personality.

Beauty Skin Deep

Is beauty really skin deep? Or at beauty pageants are we just judging on what there appearance is?? I feel like at beauty pageants the judges are looking at the appearance and only that. Judges can only see the appearance and not what the individuals personality is like.

What is beauty?

So after looking at the judges and how beauty pageants affect young girls, I wanted to analyze what is beauty and who is to judge one girl over another? This piece of art, highly suggests my point of what is beauty?

The Dr Phil Show

On the Doctor Phil show they had a episode on "Trouble in the Spotlight" and how parents believe their children are the best. Beauty Pageants was the first story that was aired.

Beautification or Exploitation?

Kari and Bonnie are sisters at war over Bonnie's 8-year-old daughter, Madison, competing in high-glitz beauty pageants. Bonnie encourages Madison to wear makeup, fake teeth and spray-on tans. Kari says she looks like a "20-year-old call girl."

Child Exploitation with Beauty Pageants

Here are some pictures I found on google images that reinforce the idea of child exploitation with beauty pageants!

Child Beauty Pageants

Here is a great YouTube clip of an opinion on child beauty pageants. Take a look!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smad1MmqyIg

Beauty Pageant Judges

So now I am thinking about who are the judges and how do they find them? What makes them a good judge compared to a bad judge? I wanted to look at the judging and see if this had any affect on the beauty pageants and the girls involved in them. Here I found a list of good judges and how to find them. I was surprised to see the list and I am going to explore this idea more of what the judges are looking for and why they were selected.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2208884_choose-judges-beauty-pageant.html

1. As a pageant director, never serve as a judge yourself. You want your election of the winner to be unbiased. By not serving as judge yourself, you will avoid the possibility of any questionable comments regarding your pageant.

2. Step 2

   Don’t ask a director from another state within your pageant system to serve as judge. Some state directors will try to intimidate the stronger contestants so they won’t do well enough to win.

3. Step 3

   Choose people with a diverse background. Your judges should be geographically distributed, and have different professions and ages.

4. Step 4

   Look for judges with a good reputation. You want your judges to live by the morals they expect from the contestants.

5. Step 5

   Choose people who have an idea of what they are doing. They should have an experience in appraising the ideals of your pageant.

6. Step 6

   Do explain the judging criteria and your pageant goal to your judges. If your winner advances to another level, explain that too.

7. Step 7

   Appoint a judges’ committee chairman. This person will guide other judges, deliver scores to your tabulator, and resolve any judging disputes or emergencies.

8. Step 8

   Choose an odd number of judges in order to avoid a tie.

9. Step 9

   Make sure your judges don’t have any personal ties with the contestants. You can outright ask the judges for this information and have them sign an agreement that states this.

Beauty Pageants Positive or Negative??

In my class today I had the opportunity to present my blog and my ideas. At the end of my presentation, I realized that I need to focus more on what is beauty? who judges it? what are our standards? is it ok for little girls to be judged? etc. So now I am going to look more into this idea of beauty and pageants.

Baby Beauty Queens, Kids Pageants Pt1of6

Watch this clip!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSLvniGba0Q


I came across this movie and was really interested in watching about how different communities see beauty pageants in different ways. This movie was set in the UK, and it is interesting to see how strict the parents are and how much they are pushing their daughters. Is this the message we want to send to little girls? Wow! After I watched this I was in shock! Why do parents do this to their children? Are the mothers living their dreams through their children? I strongly believe that this is true! Many mothers that I meet are so consumed with their daughter's pageant life that they don't realize what they are doing. When a child is nine years old, she does not want a fake tan and have to go through this! It is ridiculous. OK, to have a religious ceremony so the child wins the competition! I strongly disagree. This is terrible! By having these kind of pageants, it sends out a terrible message to the world when really pageants don't have to be this way! Pageants are a positive event when it focuses on intelligence, poise, grace, etc.

The Miss America Pageant is featured on the Ten Great Places to Find True Americana List

Miss America Pageant

Las Vegas

"Beauty contests are an American staple, but this is the Super Bowl. McKechnie says the event has enjoyed a renaissance of popularity since moving from Atlantic City six years ago. There are three days of preliminaries before the finals in the pageant (the next one is Jan. 26-30), and tickets are sold for each round. "One night they do talent, one night evening gowns and so on, so it is pretty easy to buy tickets. Whatever they choose to do for the talent show they do very well, so the quality of the performance is as good as any show on the Vegas Strip." Tickets go on sale in December." 609-653-8700, missamerica.org,
(http://www.missamerica.org/)



When I went on the Miss America site I was really excited to see this article posted and talking about how great beauty pageants are. Most of the articles I read on a daily basis, are discussing how bad pageants are and how much of a negative affect they have on little girls, but I truly believe that Miss America, has great intentions! Look at all of the volunteer work she does, and how she reaches out to communities to help! Go online and purchase tickets!!!!! Support Miss Minnesota!!!!!!! Go Brooke!!!!!! Wow, what a great way to publicize the Miss America Pageant. I am very glad that this was a positive article and how it stated that this is a popular event! I know tickets are on sale!!!!



http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/10great/2009-08-20-americana_N.htm?csp=DailyBriefing&POE=click-refer

Anoka- The Halloween Capital of the World

Many of the cities royalities gathered Saturday to celebrate Halloween, where? Of course, Anoka, the Halloween Capital of the World. On Saturday, October 31st, the royalities from all over met and had a royal brunch in Anoka at the VFW's with coffee and dougnuts preparing for a long day. Many of the royalities were in charge of setting up and taking down their floats so at eleven a.m. the girls started getting ready for this HUGE parade. Every city was dressed up in a Halloween themed float and costumes. Once the royalty set up their floats they would have the chance to go trick or treat at the other floats. The girls would then get ready for the parade to start at one o'clock. Some of the royalty didn't even start in the parade route until three o'clock. Saturday was very cold and many of the Halloween costumes were hard to see under all of the layers the girls had on. After the parade there was a pre-cornoration dinner where all of the girls had the opporunity to get warm and get ready for the cornoration. This year there were fifty-one girls trying for three crowns! What a amazing turn out! Here are the new girls that were crowned: Amanda Funder, Erin Hilliard, & Chelsea Tulupan.

The floats were so great this year despite the cold harsh October weather, here are some pictures of the floats:

( I am the scarecrow:)

Go Green, Green is Gorgeous

"Tamara Henry went to Orlando, Florida and asked the 2010 Miss America Contestants what "being green" means to them. Fifty-one of them were on hand to give their eco-answers. Now you get to vote for which one you think has the best insight on "being green." The winner will take home some environmentally conscious prizes, including a wonderful gift basket from Betty Belts. Click on the box above to go to our contest page and Vote Now! Miss Alaska and Miss Louisiana 2009 were not on hand to take part.The contest will end on Friday, January 29, 2010 and we will post the winner that evening." http://www.greenwithtamara.com/

What a great way to use the media to display the go green message! Have the contestants participate, have a interactive application for voters, etc! This is such a wonderful idea! I love how they had each contestant state why they belive going green is a good thing and then it leaves the world to vote for the woman they believe is the best! WOW:)

PLEASE GO AND VOTE FOR YOUR STATE'S MISS AMERICA CONTESTANTS!!!!!!! This is such a great opportunity for the Miss America candidates to explain why they believe going green is goregous! Help support Miss Minnesota and go on and vote for her!!!!!!!!! This is such a great idea that Tamara came up with! How to go green and advertise this idea! Wow! great:)

http://www.greentwithtamara.com/

No pageant regulation

"WHILE the Government cares about Singapore's branding, it does not see a need to regulate beauty pageants as it believes that the 'market discipline' imposed by sponsors will keep such events in check.
'An event that is badly run or whose prestige is affected will have difficulties securing sponsorship,' he said, citing the much-panned 'Merlion-inspired dress' worn by Miss Singapore Universe 2008, which received many brickbats, as an example.
'The negative feedback resulted in a number of sponsors withdrawing from the pageant,' he said in a written to Mr Baey, who had asked if greater supervision and regulation of local pageant organisers was necessary to protect Singapore's brand name.
The Minister also cited the recent controversy over this year's Miss Singapore World beauty winner Ris Low, who stepped down after news of her criminal conviction for fraud came to light and public criticism over her poor command of English in a TV interview. As a result, the pageant organiser, ERM World Marketing, also drew negative reactions from its sponsors as well.
'With the market discipline imposed by sponsors, there is no need for government to regulate such pageant,' said Mr Lim, adding: 'Events where there is international exposure can add or subtract from this branding. But how the world perceives us is not determined by a beauty contest representative. Instead international opinion is shaped over time, as a result of events of significance, by what we do as a country.'"http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_444339.html

What a article!!! Wow! I truly agree with what Mr. Limm said! I do believe that if a woman is crowned and looses her title this looks bad on everyone. The producers, the directors, the woman herself! It is a shame that because someone screws up, the rest of the women have to suffer her lose as well.

Plastic = Fantastic in Hungary Beauty Pageant

"Reka Urban, queen of the Miss Plastic Hungary 2009 beauty pageant, smiles after the contest in Budapest Oct. 9, 2009. It's a night for unnatural beauties. With contestants showing off breast implants, nose jobs and face-lifts, Miss Plastic Hungary 2009 strives to promote the benefits of plastic surgery in a country where such artificial enhancements are viewed mostly with a wary eye." (Bela Szandelszky/AP Photo ) abcnews.go.com/Health/slideshow?id=8808628


This is absolutely terrible!!! They are having a contest for women who are going to show off their breast implants, nose jobs and face-lifts. I totally understand and support women who feel the need to do these plastic surgery for some reasons whether it is they are very self-conscious, have a medical condition, etc. But to go to the extreme of having a beauty contest regarding this is TERRIBLE!!!!!!!

Congratulations to our New Queen of the Lakes and Princesses!

Queen of the Lakes Alexandra Forster the former Miss DelanoPrincess

Abbrielle Massee the former Miss Hopkins Raspbery Festival Queen

Princess Angela Kron the former Miss SvenskarnasDag.

The Aquatennial Ambassadors welcome you to our official website. The Aquatennial has a rich tradition of ambassadors that have represented Minneapolis' festival since 1940. The Minneapolis Aquatennial - a partnership between the Aquatennial Ambassador Organization (AAO) and the Minneapolis Downtown Council - fosters understanding and support of the civic responsibities and opportunities of citizenship in the City of Minneapolis and the State of Minnesota. The Aquatennial Ambassador Organization forges relationships between smaller communities, the City and the Organization through participation in over 60 community celebrations throughout the State and as many as 300 public appearances throughout the year.

www.aquatennialambassadors.com/files/AAO_Powerpoint.pdf

This women are wonderful!! I have had the opportunity to meet each one of them and the poise, talent and beauty they each have is amazing. They will do wonders their year of reign.

Miss California Carrie Prejean Loses Her Crown

"Less than a month after being told by Donald Trump that she can keep her Miss California crown, Carrie Prejean was fired on Wednesday.
In a release first obtained by FOXNews.com, K2 Productions, the independent producers of the Miss California USA pageant, under license from

Miss Universe, cited continued breach of contract issues as the reason for Prejean's firing.
"This was a decision based solely on contract violations," Keith Lewis, executive director of K2 Productions, said in the release. "After our press conference in New York we had hoped we would be able to forge a better working relationship. However, since that time it has become abundantly clear that Carrie has no desire to fulfill her obligations under our contract and work together.”Prejean came under fire for her answer to a question about gay marriage two months ago in the Trump-owned Miss USA pageant, in which she was the runner-up. After the pageant, Prejean was continuously attacked as she defended her belief that gays and lesbians should not be given the right to marry in California. She became embroiled in more controversy when racy pictures of her were published that some construed as violations of her Miss California contract." www.foxnews.com/.../miss-california-carrie-prejean-loses-crown/

In my opinion, this is so sad! So many young girls look up to these women and want to be like them. When you agree to the crown, you have to obey the rules for the whole year you reign and if you can not agree with the rules, then you should not accept the crown.

Miss Minnesota 2009 Gets Ready for Miss America

Here are some pictures of Miss Minnesota's Brooke Kilgraff, I have had the pleasure to meet her and what a wonderful woman she is!!! She will be representing Minnesota at the Miss America Pageant in November. Her platform is music and children. She is representing the Children's Miracle Network! Good luck Brooke!!!!!

Little Girl Crowned

This is why I feel terrible when I look at a poor young girl on stage getting crowned. Her parents are estatic about the win but she could care less and the crown is too big for her head. The show Toddlers and Tiaras are a perfect example of this, the moms are sooo into the pageant world and start their daughters so young and really when you think about it, do the little girls care?

New TLC reality series unveils hidden world of beauty pageants

"The cable network that brought you Jon & Kate Plus 8 is launching a new reality show focusing on “the unseen world" of beauty pageants. Cy Frakes, who has been coaching aspiring beauty queens for over 20 years will be the focus of the show, and the TLC network has ordered 12 episodes. The show will premiere, Sept 30.The premiere episode features the now infamous Caitlin Upton, the former Miss Teen USA from South Carolina who could not give a coherent answer during the question portion of the competition. She became a YouTube sensation, generating over 35 million views. In the premiere, Cy takes on the challenge of preparing the most parodied teen queen for a comeback to the pageant stage. "The series definitely captures the essence of who I am and what I do," said Frakes in a statement."

www.examiner.com/x-18064-NY-Culture--Events-Examiner~y2009m8d31-New-TLC-reality-series-unveils-hidden-world-of-beauty-pag...

After reading this article, I was in shock that TLC is actually going to make a television show to capture the beauty pageant world. I think it will be a very interesting show to watch! I have seen the previews for this and I believe it will be a big hit. It should give the audience a insight to what beauty pageants are all about. -samantha