A beauty contest or beauty pageant is a competition between people that is based largely, though not always entirely, on the beauty of their physical appearance. Almost invariably, competitions for men and women are separate events, and those for men are not referred to as beauty contests except derogatorily. Those for women are more common, and winners are called beauty queens. Beauty contests for men, like Mr. Universe, are traditionally body building contests. In the 1990s, male beauty contests focusing more on the physical beauty and attractiveness of the contestants have emerged; these include Mr. World and Manhunt International. There are also beauty contests for children; they are controversial, in particular if the term sexy is used and/or the children (mostly females) are dressed in no more than a swimsuit.

History of beauty contests

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Choosing symbolic kings and queens for May Day and other festivities is an ancient custom in Europe, where beautiful young women also symbolized the nation, virtue, or other abstract ideals. The first modern pageant was staged by P. T. Barnum in 1854, but his beauty contest was closed down by public protest (he had previously held dog, baby, and bird beauty contests). He substituted daguerreotypes for judging, a practice quickly adopted by newspapers, which held photo beauty contests for many decades. The first “bathing beauty pageant" took place as part of a summer festival to promote business in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, in 1880. Contests became a regular part of summer beach life, with the most elaborate at Atlantic City, New Jersey, where the “Fall Frolic” attracted contestants from many cities and towns in competition for the title of Miss America. They eventually added preliminary eliminations, an evening gown competition, musical variety shows, and judging by panel. Still, the contest was shunned by middle-class society. Pageants did not become respectable until World War II, when beauty queens were recruited to sell bonds and entertain troops; scholarships and talent competitions accompanied closer scrutiny of contestants’ morals and backgrounds. During the 1950s, pageants thrived to promote county fairs and local products . For example, some of Raquel Welch's titles included "Miss Photogenic" and "Miss Contour". The modern beauty pageant can trace its origin to the Miss America pageant, first held in Atlantic City in 1921, under the title "Inter-City Beauty" contest. The following year, the title was renamed as Miss America. Other contests include the yearly Miss World competition (founded by Eric Morley in 1951), Miss Universe (founded in 1952), Miss International and Miss Earth (founded in 2001 with environmental awareness as its concern), which are the four largest and most famous international beauty contests. Minor contests, such as the Miss Bondi contest in Australia, are common throughout the world in the Summer months. Across the world, Women from around the world participate each year in local competitions for the chance to represent their country at the international titles. The organizers of the major beauty contests represent their contests as being events of world importance. A more common view is that beauty contests are titillating entertainment events of no great importance.

Beauty contests and politics

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Miss Oklahoma Wins Miss America 2007