List of pros of beauty pageants

1. Qualities and Skills Are Tested One positive aspect of beauty pageants is the fact that one can really become good at public speaking and performing in front of large groups. When you get practice at being in front of people and keeping your cool, you will feel better about doing it and expressing yourself freely. This could be valuable training for a future career in music, broadcasting, and other jobs that require you to speak to groups of people with confidence. You can see your comfort level grow with experience and you can get a level of comfort that helps you grow as a person.

2. Fitness and Discipline is Needed The level of fitness and discipline that it often takes to participate in beauty pageants can help a person in the contest and in the future. Getting your body in top shape to be in a pageant is typically very hard work and you learn how to put in the effort. Not only do you gain knowledge on how much it takes to get to peak physical condition, you can also learn a lot about patience. After putting in the time to get yourself in shape, you can get a greater appreciation for the results you see and use this outlook to help you in future activities.

3. Can Win Prizes and Awards Winning and participating in pageants can lead to great prizes and opportunities for those who are involved. Many of the top beauty pageants do not award cash prizes for the winners, instead they usually give awards like college scholarships. There are good opportunities to travel the world and represent the pageant that you are involved with and make new connections. Doing charity work and being the face of your pageant are other benefits of getting involved and winning. There are other pageants that do offer cash prizes and can really help the contestant fund their passion.

4. Fosters Goals and Ambition in Life Going through the experience of participating in beauty pageants can help you to go for other things in life that you want and really push you forward. The confidence you gain will be there when you do other things that challenge you and you will have the self-esteem to do what you want. Contests that require you to show a talent can encourage individuals who are not focused only on their beauty to get involved and prove that looks and talent can go together. Having to answer tough questions on the spot can also improve your ability to think quickly and accurately.

Read about the cons of beauty contests. Translate the following words and word combinations from the texts into Russian and using them be ready to tell us what you`ve learnt about disadvantages.

1. Downside, become shallow, become conceited, shower, keep a straight head about.

2. Lose confidence, a lack of self-confidence, counterproductive, gain from, reinforce.

3. An adult, mature, take a defeat hard, looks, teach the right lesson.

4. Toll, eating disorders, goal, avoid the pressure, stressful.

List of cons of beauty pageants

1. Can Become Shallow and Overconfident One downside of being in beauty pageants is the chance that you can become shallow and hung up on the beauty part of it all. Getting into a beauty pageant and winning one can be great but it can also make someone care about their looks even more than they did before and become conceited. People will shower contests winners with so much attention that the positive aspects of what the competition should be can be pushed to the side and overconfidence can take its place. Contestants should try to keep a straight head about it and use it to build good qualities.

2. Feelings of Depression if You Lose Losing a beauty pageant can also cause someone to lose confidence and come away with a negative outlook on the whole experience. Someone who really wanted to win a pageant and those who may already have a lack of self-confidence can really feel depressed and empty. Without a good network of support, someone can let a pageant affect them in a way that is unhealthy and counterproductive. It is best to remember what positive things you gained from participating and build off those factors and reinforce what is good.

3. Focus on Physical Beauty is Bad for Younger Children  Children participating in pageants can experience all the negative results that can come with losing just like adults can. Since young kids are not mature enough to handle things the way adults can, they may be more likely to take a defeat hard and lose some self-confidence. There has been considerable criticism of having children participate in beauty pageants and having them focus so much on looks and judges can be harmful. If a child is going to be entered into these types of competitions, they should be taught the right lessons and have fun doing it.

4. Taxing on Health and Financial State The toll that entering beauty pageants can take on your finances and health can be quite taxing. It is not cheap to get from city to city to get into pageants and the clothing alone can be expensive. Training hard to get your body where you want it can be tough too and eating disorder can occur when you take it too far. You have to find the balance between being focused on your goal and care of yourself at the same time. It you can avoid the pressure getting to you, you can enjoy what you are doing without it being extra stressful.

There is no perfect way to be a beauty pageant contestant and winning and losing is decided by someone other than you. Getting the most out of being in pageants and using the positive factors to improve yourself as a person, is the best result you can ask for. Winning is a bonus that should not shape a person and losing should not either. Everyone can get something good out of being involved and find a happy ending. Beauty is a nice quality to have but there are more important qualities to be had and pageants are forums that can help you increase these more honorable characteristics.

Exercise 6. Read the following opinions about beauty contests and be ready to express your idea about them.

1. ‘’I never watch beauty contests. They are like a cattle market! I think they insult the intelligence of women. No woman with any self-respect would ever enter the competition like this. I find them totally degrading.’’

2. ‘’I certainly don’t take them seriously. They’re harmless fun, really. I mean, you see prettier girls every day in shops and offices. But people earn a living from their intelligence or from their abilities. Why shouldn’t they make money from their appearance?’’

3. ‘’I occasionally watch them, but I don’t think I’d like them if I were a woman. After all, a lot of girls would look just as good with the make-up, clothes and lights. Anyway, beauty is only skin-deep. I often feel irritated when I’m watching a beauty contest. The values are false.’’

4. ‘’I always watch them. I like looking at pretty girls. I’d rather watch a beauty contest than a programme about politics. There’s not enough glamour in the world. If you don’t like it, you can always switch off the television.’’

Exercise 7. Find the English equivalents for the following Russian words.

обижать, оскорблять

самоуважение

участвовать в соревновании

безвредная шутка

зарабатывать на жизнь

зарабатывать деньги

изредка

красота глубоко внутри

раздражаться

фальшивый

выключить телевизор

Exercise 8. Express your attitude to beauty contests, agreeing or disagreeing with the people`s opinions using the following scheme.

I share the ... opinion.

The person is quite right to say that ...

I can’t but agree to the following ...

I also think that ...

But on the contrary, I disagree with ...

I don’t believe that ...

So I’m sure that ...

To sum it up I can say that I ... beauty contests.

Exercise 9. Are Beauty Pageants Outdated? Read an opinion given below and answer the questions.

• What does the speaker dislike about beauty contest judgment?

• Why does the speaker consider beauty contests to be outdated?

• How has the image of a true woman changed?

• What is real beauty today? Who should compete nowadays?

• What is necessary to balance?

So if they’re not as different as any other competition, what’s the big deal? Well it seems the hangup is the part where women are being judged on beauty, physical appearance, and sexual appeal. Beauty is subjective. It’s not quite like having the ability to solve a trigonometry equation – there’s multiple viewpoints on what makes an individual “beautiful.” Regardless if the women showcase other talents, answer altruistic questions, win money, and promote their charitable platforms, the fact still remains that they’re mainly being judged on outer beauty.