The Miss Universe Pageant recently aired on January 25th, 2015 at the FIU Arena in Doral-Miami, while approximately 1 billion television viewers across the world, watched in awe, disgust, envy, and frustration due to how serious the judges and contestants took the pageant. You would think these women were going to win a lifetime supply of money, the way they were primping and pushing.

I watched it to try and understand why it was so important to American culture and what was so great about it, that it was trending on twitter and hashtagged thousands of times.

I thought to myself, why do other women want to see ditzy chicks, embarrass themselves? Because we all know why the men watch.

They watch to check out half naked women and laugh at how un educated they are. Pretty sad.

After the first 5 minutes, I couldn’t stomach watching any more. I didn’t feel like running and buying any tiaras, bathing suits or makeup to look like those women. I felt angry because I knew the idea of women being chosen or liked for their looks was against everything I believe.

For hours, I searched the Internet and explored every social media site, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. to see if I was the only person that felt like pageants in general were a negative reflection and image for young girls and women. I found that 75% people felt that beauty pageants were teaching females the wrong things, on Debate.org.

Not only does it teach young girls that beauty is beauty is external but it sends a message that every female should be less than 115 pounds, with blonde hair, blue eyes and big boobs.

Also the women in the beauty pageants always feel pressured to look thin, and they seek those results by doing extremely dangerous things such as starving themselves, binge eating and increasing self hate as well as low self esteem. The pageant queen hopefuls also go to plastic surgeons and risk their health and lives for a false sense of what they are told is “Beauty”.

I refuse to accept the fact that all the brave women who fought for women’s rights have done everything in vain. Women like Gwendolyn Brooks, Assata Shakur, Susan B Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Ida B wells as well as other activists from the 1900’s to present time. Even all the business women, housewives and women with serious goals, all across the world, fight every day in their environments to make sure women and young girls, are treated equally and not expected to just be treated as an image, or the brains and not assets.

Those women fight, so people know, females are more than beauty queens. We have earned our rights as females to be in top power positions and taken seriously as more than just sex symbols.

There are different sections that all pageants involve in the competition. The first is ballroom gowns, where the women put on the most expensive dress, with the best “wow” factor in an attempt to show the judges they have style and taste, even though they all have people who consult them and choose what dresses and shoes the women should wear.

Next is swimwear, where the contestants model and show off their bodies to the judges in an attempt to prove they have the best-fit bodies.However all the contestants look about 100 lbs., maybe 115. In a world where women feel pressured to live up to unrealistic beauty expectations, it was a slap in the face to all kinds of beauties in this world. Sizes 4, 6, 8 or even 16.

Many people feel that allowing their young daughters, nieces, and sisters, enter into pageants is harmless and beneficial to the young girl. However they are kidding themselves. If they think by putting false teeth, hair, nails, eye lashes and even eyes on a young girl, is building or creating her self esteem; that it is a positive thing they have no idea what kind of damage they are doing to her. Females should feel powerful and beautiful without extra things, makeup and add on’s are just that. Ad on’s.

All the other categories have everything to do with materialistic and physical beauty, while only one category involves intelligence or lack their of. I know my favorite part of pageants is to hear the incredibly ignorant answers that the women come up with. Each answer to the questions that are either political or geographical leaves my face in my palm and my head hurting.

Young girls should feel more empowered when they are knowledgeable about life and things that will actually matter when trying to get a job, career or providing for themselves and families. Instead the beauty aspect is pushed more than the intelligence aspect and it is both embarrassing and sad.

The mere thought of a 23 year old woman not knowing who the vice president of the United States is, is very disheartening. Comical yet disheartening.

There is always a bigger picture outside of entertainment events. More people are affected by these pageants than just the people involved in them. There is always an audience who feels compelled to do what they see and in this case, it is young girls who are looking to other women to show them what self love and confidence truly is for females.

Females should not have to degrade themselves to feel good.

If more pageants had equal amounts of interests in watching the women speak than walk in scantily clad underwear, self-esteem rates would sky rocket. There are too many females in the world that hide their intelligence because they think it is unattractive, when they should embrace it. According to the Huffington post, about half of females have downplayed a talent or knowledge of something because they were afraid of being bullied for being smart. The number has rose to 53 percent among girls.

Wearing a tiara doesn’t make you a princess or queen.

Knowing you are beautiful without one does.