Heather Klein & Regan A. R. Gurung
University of Wisconsin, Green Bay
Are Beauty Pageants Objectifying? Two Answers
RESULTS
ABSTRACT
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 using the example of Beauty
Pageants. A total of 95 students participated as judges in two mock beauty
pageants. Participants either saw contestants in a swimsuit or just in casual
and formal wear. Study 1 used the Miss America Pageant. Study 2 used a
student analogy. We found no evidence for objectification due to being seen
in swimsuits.
A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) compared responses
on the five questions across conditions controlling for sex of participant.
Ratings for the five ‘contestants’ in each cell were averaged. One set of
analyses examined responses to the Miss American Pageant, the
second set tested our student analog. Neither statistical test was
significant. Counter to anecdotal evidence, our results suggest that
sexual objectification did not take place in our two studies and may not
be taking place in the context of beauty pageants.
Results
INTRODUCTION
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Are beauty pageants sexist? This question has dogged the Miss America pageant
from the beginning of its existence. 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).
Over time, more and more emphasis, by the media especially, has been put on
health, fitness, and body image (Ogden & Mundray, 1996; Posavac, Posavac &
Posavac, 1998). Objectification theory states that society socializes women to see
their bodies as sexual objects to be looked at (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997).
Objectification of a woman occurs when a woman’s body, parts of her body, or sexual
capabilities are used to make judgments about her personality without any knowledge
about her true self (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1998). Given that objectification has the
potential to influence psychological dysfunction, such as disordered eating,
depression, and decreased self-esteem (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) it is critical to
examine these issues in detail.
This study used the 2004 Miss America pageant to determine if sexual objectification
and impression formation are related. This study addresses issues of sexual
objectification in beauty pageants by manipulating exposure to the swimwear
component of the competition in order to analyze influences on judges’ ratings of
contestants. Garments have a significant impact on impression formation (Behling,
1995), and we hypothesized that having women wear swimsuits significantly changes
how they are rated.
METHOD
Ninety-five undergraduate students participated in this study. Participation in the
study was voluntary, though some students received extra course credit.
Participants first completed consent forms in separate laboratory rooms equipped
with a computer. The targets were presented using the MediaLab2002 software
program (Jarvis, 2002), which presented instructions, photographs, video clips and
rating scales. Participants were told they were taking part in a beauty pageant where
they were the ‘celebrity judges’. Participants in both conditions saw video clips of
each of the 5 finalists of the 2004 Miss America pageant in casual wear and formal
wear, rating each contestant after each set of clips. Participants in the experimental
condition also saw clips of the contestants in swimwear (participants in the control
condition viewed the contestants wearing a gown). All participants then answered 5
questions on each contestant and picked a winner (How attractive is she? How
healthy is she? How personable is she? How smart is she? How hardworking is
she?). Participants used a 9-point scale to respond (1-Not at all to 9 Extremely).
Participants were then told they would be part of a second study where fellow
students would be contestants. They then saw pictures of 3 students dressed in
casual, formal, and swimwear (experimental condition) or casual, formal, and
exercise wear. Questions similar to those described for the pageant were answered
for each.
Figure 1 :Design
Demographics Values Clothing Preferences
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24
Condition 1
23
Casual
Casual
Condition 2
22
21
Swim
Formal
20
Attractive
Ratings of Contestants
Healthy
DISCUSSION
Personable
Smart
Hardworking
Estimated Attribute Means
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). Although anecdotal evidence suggests that
seeing women in two-piece swimsuits influences how they are rated this
finding did not hold up.
Some of the other areas where perceptible objectification occurs include
pornography, film, music videos, magazines, and television broadcasts
(Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). Our results suggest that practices such as the
beauty pageant may not be directly contributing to such problems although we
often believe so. One reason that the contestants were not objectified in
swimwear may be that the contestants were not portrayed in the contests as
they are in the media such as movies, pornography, and music videos. It is
possible that the context may have significant importance in objectification and
we expect swimwear in Pageants and so do not think worse of the women in
them.
Presented at the 2006 American Psychological Association’s Annual Conference. New Orleans, LA. Email gurungr@uwgb.edu