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.