Regan A. R. Gurung, Jill West, & Becky Siegler
University of Wisconsin, Green Bay
Skin and Perception: Are Beauty Pageants Sexist?
ABSTRACT
RESULTS
Does wearing revealing clothes promote sexual objectification? With today’s
emphasis on beauty and perfection, we tested how impressions of women
varied with the type of clothes they wore. 178 students participated in a mock
beauty pageant. Participants either saw skin or not. In strong support of our
hypotheses, the women seen in swimsuits were rated as being significantly
less intelligent, hardworking, and personable than those not seen in bikinis.
Surprisingly, the swimsuit condition women were also rated as being less
attractive and healthy. This is ironic considering that the stated reasons for
beauty pageants having women wear swimsuits is to judge their fitness.
Condition 1 : Swimsuit
Multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVAs) tested for group
differences, controlling for sex of participants. In strong support of our
hypotheses, participants who viewed the targets in the more revealing outfit
(a bikini) formed significantly different impressions of them as compared to
participants who did not see targets in bikinis. Participants rated targets in a
swimsuit as significantly less intelligent, hard working, or personable. They
also rated them as less attractive or healthy.
INTRODUCTION
No Swimsuit
7
A great deal of controversy persists over the ever-popular beauty pageants and
their guidelines; in particular the swimsuit component has been labeled morally
wrong and detrimental to women (Harrison, 2000). An impinging pressure to be
thin and beautiful sits in the back of most women’s minds today (Lindeman,
1999). This persistent pressure forces young women to spend more time and
money on their physical appearance. Over time, more and more emphasis, by
the media especially, has been put on health, fitness, and body image (Ogden &
Mundray, 1996). Furthermore, female bodies are being exploited at a much
higher rate then males, and sexual objectification appears to be common.
Anytime a woman is categorized by a physical body part or parts, and the body
is seen as being able to define a women, sexual objectification is occurring
(Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). Objectification theory highlights the
psychological difficulties that women being sexually objectified encounter
(Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997; Hill, 2003). These difficulties include eating
disorders, sexual dysfunctions, lower levels of self-esteem, and/or depression
(Johar, Moreau, & Schwarz, 2003). When a person is being gazed at and
appraised (as in a beauty pageant), and then ranked based on judges'
perception, there is endless opportunity for disappointment stemming from
social comparison and internalized awareness of others' views.
This study addresses issues of sexual objectification in beauty pageants by
manipulating skin exposure in order to analyze influences on judges’ ratings of
contestants during the swimwear component of a competition. Garments have a
significant impact on impression formation (Behling, 1995), and we hypothesized
that having women wear swimsuits would significantly change how they are
rated.
METHOD
178 undergraduate students participated in the study (women = 137, men =
41). The average age was 19.72 (SD=5.35). The targets, student volunteers,
were photographed wearing an evening gown, everyday apparel, a workout
outfit, and a swimsuit. Targets were selected to be similar in body shape (e.g.,
waist-hip-ratio, bust size, body mass index). Participants were told we were
interested in how people form impressions of strangers and that they would be
taking part in a mock beauty pageant. Participants either saw contestants in a
swimsuit or workout outfits and rated attractiveness, health, personality,
intelligence, and work ethic.
Swimsuit
6.49
6.5
6.63
6.43
6.14
6
5.71
5.5
Condition 2: No-Swimsuit
5.35
5
5.39
5.33
5.22
4.74
4.5
Attract
Fit
Person. Smart Hardwk.
DISCUSSION
We are conditioned by images in the media, and influenced by what we see
all around us. Beauty pageants are one such conditioning influence. Judges
and organizers argue that fitness is an important part of a well-rounded
person and therefore the swimwear component of the competition is
necessary in the pageant (to measure fitness). Our results suggest that
seeing women in two-piece swimsuits influences a range of judgments made
about them. Although anecdotal evidence or a view of media images may
suggest that wearing less makes you more desirable, our results suggest the
opposite. Targets seen in less clothing were actually perceived to be less
favorable.
There are clear limitations to our study. For example, more male participants
would be beneficial to generalize findings. Yet, it is clear that what one wears
can influence how one is rated and our results urge more of a focus on
implications of different forms of dress.
Presented at the 2004 American Psychological Society’s Annual Conference. Chicago, IL. Email gurungr@uwgb.edu