So what's the deal with Miss Universe?

"We, the young women of the universe, believe people everywhere are seeking peace, tolerance and mutual understanding. We pledge to spread this message in every way we can, wherever we go”…. In a bikini

Today in my fluey haze I realised that for the last 45 minutes I had been gazing at the television completely blank at what appeared to be a very backwards old fashioned beauty pageant. It was Miss Universe 2010.

Firstly, a little history on Miss Universe, the pageant started officially in 1952 and was orchestrated and owned by a clothing company, Pacific Mills. It was bought by Donald Trump in 1996 and to this day remains one of the most shallow and backward spectacles of mythical femininity in the western world.

If you really think about what Miss Universe represents, you can understand why not much has changed since 1952. Although the pageant now accommodates for a brief interview as part of it’s judging process, these women, from all around the globe and in some homogenous way, representing their countries, are judged for the way they look. Wake. Up. Modern. World. Are we still here really? Are women really still valued only for how they pull off a bikini and evening couture? Have we not learnt anything in the last 50 years? It seems to me, when I look at these ghastly displays of patriarchy and superficial values that the hard work of Simone de Beauvoir, Betty Friedman, Namoi Wolf and Judith Butler was all in vain. Are we not listening?

But what can we do? To this day Miss Universe has 600 million viewers worldwide, I know it’s easy to be sucked in by the pretty lights, sparkly costumes, cheesy hosts and beautiful women, or perhaps like me this morning we are mentally switched off and don’t know what it is we’re watching. Perhaps it’s time to think critically again about these things, perhaps we need to continue the war that was waged all those years ago. We need to open our minds to what is still considered acceptable, make some noise and engage in public debate about it.

Yes I know it’s a bit of fun and the ladies look lovely and blah blah blah. However, I cannot imagine bringing up a young girl in a world where superficial beauty is still valued over intellect, compassion and humility. It has to change. And as long as there is a Miss Universe pageant with swimsuit and evening gown segments instead of community involvement, academic merits, and worldly achievements being the focus of worth, women will never be valued publicly for their hard work and intellect, and as usual, the 96% of women who do not look like Miss Universe will never be worthy of a crown in our backwards society.