Society Debate: Should beauty pageants be about beauty or brains?

They are already defined Without complicating things, let’s get a clue from the terms ‘beauty pageant’ and ‘beauty queen’. Talking about brains in such a topic is as confused as going left after seeing a big signpost that tells you to go right

Thursday, February 02, 2012
Ivan Mugisha

They are already defined

Without complicating things, let’s get a clue from the terms ‘beauty pageant’ and ‘beauty queen’. Talking about brains in such a topic is as confused as going left after seeing a big signpost that tells you to go right.There are millions of competitions on this earth; everybody with any kind of talent can find one to delve in, while also understanding that there are some competitions that are strictly out of bounds for some.For example, Lionel Messi can’t join basketball and hope to merit on the basis of being a superb footballer much as it is unwise for an intelligent woman to join beauty contests hoping to woo judges by her intelligence regardless of her, well… not so attractive looks.Beauty competitions are meant, first of all, for beautiful women- yes! Outside bodily beauty! We know that women are beautiful on the inside but beauty contests are competitions for women who have external beauty, women who are drop dead gorgeous regardless of whether their IQ is high or low.In the instance that there are two finalists who are equally beautiful, their intelligence can come into the fray, just like two teams going for penalty shootouts after failing to get a winner in ninety minutes of play.Besides, there are contests , debates and quizzes for people with brains; instead of trying to make history as "the beauty queen who only had brains” I suggest that those who are interested in such look for their forums and leave beauty pageant competitions alone- in good faith.For example, the Inspire Africa Project which looks for the brightest young minds in East Africa can be utilized by those who think that they have the brains to think up great business proposals; a competitor enters such a contest knowing that their bodily beauty is as useless as tits on a bull.Take a look at the Tusker Project Fame, imagine that they decided to disregard beautiful voices in favor of something else like computer or vocational skills, wouldn’t it lose meaning? Every competition has a definition and it’s those definitions that judges look for in aspirants.There are people who enjoy watching beauty as it parades and they are entitled to such a right especially when they have paid for it. You can picture how disappointed a fellow can be on realizing that at a beauty contest, all the girls were not as beautiful as he had imagined just because the organizer thought it wise to enter not the most beautiful but the most intelligent girls.That said, I highly doubt that Miss NUR or Miss SFB were the most intelligent and best performing in their respective schools.Let us preserve things for what they are meant. Beauty pageant competitions are all about beauty! Other factors may come second.