The Media and The Miss USA Pageant

The Media Representation of the Miss USA Pageant 

This past Sunday, The Miss USA Pageant aired live from Louisiana. In previous years, I never paid much attention to the pageant itself, but more the results of the pageant. However, now that I have participated in several pageants and have taken several communication courses, I was interested in how the media represented the program. 

Overall, I wasn't overly impressed by the pageant. There was a lot of instances in which the way the young women were filmed and portrayed made them seem uneducated. It seemed as if they were marketed more as objects rather than, people. First, they often would cut to commercial breaks featuring the girls dancing or posing provocatively. Second, the judges would mention in interviews that the whole pageant was really based off of beauty and nothing else. Third, the women were required to compete in a swimsuit portion in the contest. Before the actual individual competition, the women came on stage and performed a scandalous group dance in their swimsuits. Finally, there is no talent portion to this contest. It is solely based off of poise,facial beauty, and physical fitness.It was evident that the judges and the company itself stresses the fact that women must be close to perfect. 

On another note, it is interesting to note that E!news who is a sponsor of the pageant and shares hosts with the pageant released an article focusing on Miss Indiana and her body type. They took a positive approach to her "normal" body type and complimented her endlessly. It is weird to me that E! would take this stance against a company they support. 


In short, I have nothing against the Miss USA Pageant and I think it presents many opportunities for women all around the country and world.