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Beauty contest: an introduction 选美大赛的历史

A beauty contest, or beauty pageant, is a competition based mainly, though not always entirely, on the physical beauty of its contestants. Almost invariably, competitions for men and women are separate events, and those for men are not referred to as beauty contests. Beauty contests for women are more common, and winners are called beauty queens. Beauty contests for men, like Mr. Universe, are more likely to be "body building" contests-quite unlike the traditional "beauty contest" in which women are judged upon many attributes both physical and otherwise. However, in the 1990s, male "beauty contests" began to shift focus. Instead of only considering muscle mass, the competitions began to judge the natural physical attributes of the contestants as well as their physiques. These include Mr. World and Manhunt International.

Miss Japan Riyo Mori adjusts her crown after being crowned Miss Universe 2007 at the National Auditorium in Mexico City May 28, 2007. [Reuters]

There are also beauty contests for children. These events are often controversial, particularly when children are dressed provocatively and described in adult terms.

History of beauty contests

Choosing symbolic kings and queens for May Day and other festivities is an ancient custom in Europe in which beautiful young women symbolize their nation's virtues and other abstract ideas. The first modern American pageant was staged by P. T. Barnum in 1854, but his beauty contest was closed down by public protest-he previously held dog, baby, and bird beauty contests. He substituted daguerreotypes for judging, a practice quickly adopted by newspapers. Newspapers held photo beauty contests for many decades: In 1880, the first "Bathing Beauty Pageant" took place as part of a summer festival to promote business in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Contests became a regular part of summer beach life, with the most elaborate contest taking place in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where the "Fall Frolic" attracted women from many cities and towns.

The modern beauty pageant's origin is traceable to the Miss America Pageant, which was first held in Atlantic City in 1921, under the title "Inter-City Beauty Contest." The Miss America Pageant eventually included preliminary eliminations, an evening gown competition, musical variety shows, and judging by panel. Still, the contest was at first shunned by middle-class society. Pageants did not become respectable until World War II, when "beauty queens" were recruited to sell bonds and to entertain troops. Scholarships and talent competitions evoked even closer scrutiny of contestants' morals and backgrounds.

Other major 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). These are considered the Big Four pageants, 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. 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." Across the world, women from around the world participate each year in local competitions for the chance to represent their country's international title.

Mrs. Texas crowned in beauty contest

其实，选美活动从未脱离一个游戏规则，那就是选出男性心目中最有魅力的女人。就目的而言，西方选美与过去东方君主选美的不同之处，在于一种是为一个男人，一种是为了一群男人。社会学家们则将二者区分为，一个是父权专制文化的产物，一个是父权民主文化的产物。

选美大赛说到底，是利用美女来吸引眼球，是一种真正意义上的"注意力经济"，观众的注意力给赛事的参与者带来了巨大的财富。世界级选美赛事由于运作成熟，都有固定的赞助商，因此往往给赛事带来上亿美元的收益。

选美之所以有生命力，得益于其经济联姻所创造的神话。并在世界各地不断地得到验证。1952年，世界经济大萧条的时候，美国首次举办"环球小姐"选美大赛。随之而来的是美国经济的大复苏。于是这次比赛也就成为美国经济史上的一个神话，人们也首次尝到了选美带动经济的甜头。

而自从1996年，印度小姐首次在"世界小姐"选美比赛中获胜后，世界选美比赛的后冠频频落在印度头上，印度成了世界著名的美女盛产国，旅游业等产业迅速攀升，于是印度人提出了"美女救国"的口号。

在南美小国委内瑞拉的"美女经济"众所周知，选美是委内瑞拉头号"工业"，该国美女在国际三大选美竞赛中已获得12次头衔，被誉为"美人工厂"。该国多数人认为：这是一个对外表特别关注的社会。即使48小时发生两次政变，即使是坦克横行，电视台仍在播出选美比赛，美女制造业也从没有瘫痪。

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