WOMEN PERCEPTION OF MEDIA COVERAGE OF BEAUTY PAGEANT IN AKWA IBOM STATE

1.1       Background of the Study

The mass media are the mass communication outlets or tools that are used to store and deliver information or data .According to Business Dictionary, the word Media is defined as one of the means or channels of general communication in society, as newspaper, ratio, television, magazine, and internet it can either be associated with communication media or the specialised mass media communication businesses such as print and the press, photography, advertising, cinema, broadcasting (radio and television) and publishing.

In the last century, a revolution of telecommunication has greatly altered communication by providing new media for long distance communication. Modern communication media now allow for intense long-distance exchanges between larger numbers of people.

The media have become an important part of our society. They are instruments which could be used to shape and motivate one’s thoughts and loyalties. They have been credited to help change the norms of social propriety, although the direction and value of this change are disputed (Payne, 2001).

1.1.1    About Beauty Pageant

Beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical  attributes of the contestant, although some contests have evolved to also incorporate personality traits, intelligence, talent and answers to judges, questions as judged criteria. The term almost invariably refers only to contest for unmarried women (Enriquez 2014).

The organizers of each pageant may determine the rules of the competition, including the age range of contestants. The rules may also require the contestants to be unmarried and be “virtuous”, “amateur”, and available for promotion, besides other criteria. It may also set the clothing standards in which contestants will be judged, including the type of swimsuits.

Adult and teen pageants focus on makeup, hair and gown, swimsuit modeling and personal interviews. Child beauty pageants mainly focus on beauty, gown, sport wears modeling, talent and; personal interviews. However, adult and teen pageant have been moving more towards judging speaking and many no longer contain swimsuit or talent sections.

A winner of a beauty contest is often called a “Beauty Queen”. The pejorative term “Clapper” often refers to losing candidates while its rankings are referred to as placements. Possible awards include titles, crowns, scepters, saving bonds, cash prizes and scholarships. Some pageants award college scholarship to the winner or multiple runners-up.

 1.1.2    History of Beauty Pageant

European festivals to the medieval era provide the most direct lineage for beauty pageants. For example, English “May Days” celebration always involved the selection of a “May Queen”. In the United States, the May Day tradition of selecting a woman to serve as a symbol of Bounty and Community ideals continues, as young beautiful women participated in public celebrations. (Blakemore, 2006).

A beauty pageant was held during the Eglinton Tournament of 1983, organized by Archibald Montgomerie, 13^th Earl of Eglinton, as part of a re-enactment of a medieval joust that was held in Scotland. The pageant was won by Georgiana Seymour, Duchess if Somerset, the wife of Edward Seymour, 12^th Duke of Somerset, the Sister of Caroline Norton, and she was proclaimed as the “Queen of Beauty”.

Beauty contests became more popular in the 1880s. in 1888, the title of “beauty queen” was awarded to an 18-year-old creole contestant at a pageant in Spa, Belgium. All participants had to supply a photograph and a short description of themselves to be eligible to enter and a final selection of 21 was judged by a formal panel. Beauty contests came to be considered more respectable with the first modern “Miss America” contest held 1921 (Lamsa, 2001).

The oldest pageant still in operation today is the Miss America pageant, which was organized in 1921 by a local business man as a means to entice tourists to Atlantic City, New Jersey. The pageant hosted the winners of local newspaper beauty contests in the “Inter-city Beauty Contest”, which was attended by over hundred thousand people. Sixteen-year-old Margaret Gorman of Washington, DC. was Crowned Miss America 1921, having won the popularity and beauty contests, and was awarded one hundred dollars (pageant Almanac, 2008).

 The popularity of the Miss America pageants prompted other organization to establish similar contests in the 1950s and beyond. The Miss World contest started in 1951 founded by Eric Morley in London, England. Miss Universe started in 1952 founded by William Morris Endeavor in New York City, as did Miss USA. Miss International Started in 1960 founded by International Cultural Association at Tokyo, Japan. The Miss Black America Contest Started in 1968 in response to the exclusion of African American Women from the America Pageant. (Lange 2014). The Miss Universe organization fronted by William Morris Endeavor, started the Miss Teen USA in 1983 at New York City for the 14-19 age group. Miss Earth Started in 2001 founded by Carousel productions at Quezon City, Philippines. These contests continues to this day (Maass, 2013).

1.1.3    Nigerian Beauty Pageant

There are a list of beauty pageants in Nigerian, they are: Miss Nigeria Beauty Pageant (1951) Miss African USA pageant (2005); Miss Nigeria Ghana (2012); Miss Nigeria in America (2005); Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria (1983); Miss Africa Calabar (2016); Mr. and Miss Nigeria United Kingdom (2014); Miss International; Miss Pride of Africa United Kingdom (2015), Miss Common Wealth Nigeria Pageant; Miss Petite Nigeria Pageant and Miss Philanthropy Africa.

Miss Nigeria is an annual beauty pageant event that took off in the year 1957 and designed to showcase the beauty and intelligence, boost the confidence and expose other potentials in Nigerian Women. Participant include models and all who are within the age limit that thinks they have all it takes to be the winner.

Miss Nigeria beauty pageants has significantly affected lives of women positively due to the fact the participants who emerge the winner will smile home with a handsome reward. Moreover, the participant after undergoing training overcomes stage fright and is bold enough to face the public.

1.2       Statement of the Problem

Beauty pageants is said to x-ray the beauty and potentials hidden in women and also to encourage them to be bold and speak for themselves in public.

It is argued that rather than being empowering, beauty pageant puts tremendous pressure on women to conform to conventional beauty standards by spending time and money on fashion, hair styling, cosmetics and even cosmetic surgery, to go on diets that eventually harm them, reinforcing the idea what a woman’s only purpose is to look attractive. The other issue is the way beauty is quantifiably scored. Beauty becomes a numerical coefficient in ranking contestants.

As women in the society, it is not certain how women in Akwa Ibom State perceive the way media cover beauty pageant. Therefore, the pertinent question is, what is women’s perception of media Coverage of Beauty Pageant in Akwa Ibom State?

1.3       Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the study were to:

• Ascertain the extent of exposure of women in Uyo metropolis to media coverage of beauty pageant
• Find out the medium through which women in Uyo metropolis get information about beauty pageant
• Ascertain the perception of women in Uyo metropolis on media coverage of beauty pageant
• Determine the reasons for the perception of women in Uyo metropolis on media coverage of beauty pageant

1.4          Research Questions

1.       To what extent are women in Uyo metropolis exposed to media coverage of beauty pageant?

2.        Which medium do women in Uyo metropolis get information on beauty pageant?

3.      What is the perception of women in Uyo metropolis on media coverage of beauty pageant?

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