Skin and Perception: Are Beauty Pageants Sexist

1
Skin and Perception Are Beauty Pageants Sexist?
Regan A. R. Gurung, Jill West, Becky
Siegler University of Wisconsin, Green Bay
ABSTRACT
RESULTS
Does wearing revealing clothes promote sexual
objectification? With todays 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
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
womens 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.
Condition 2 No-Swimsuit
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.
METHOD
178 undergraduate students participated in the
study (women 137, men 41). The average age
was 19.72 (SD5.35). 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.
Presented at the 2004 American Psychological
Societys Annual Conference. Chicago, IL. Email
gurungr_at_uwgb.edu