Bangkok Post : In the eyes of the beholders

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They were once stages of ultimate desire, where a beauty would be crowned the fairest of them all by respected judges, not simply by a mirror on the wall.

As the world moves towards the second decade of the 21st century, it seems people care much less about beauty pageants, be they local, national, global or universal.

"Beauty contests are a form of popular culture and like all pop culture moments of the past, it has had its peak when it became mainstream, as well as a period of decline," said feminist and psychological scholar Piamsuk Menasveta.

"The Miss Thailand pageant, for example, has been around for over 70 years. It is nothing new and thus has been overshadowed by what is newer and fresher," added Prasert Joemjutithum, collector of beauty queen images and archives who is also a hard-core fan of beauty contests.

Piamsuk and Prasert were among the speakers who participated in the seminar "Nang Ngam Nai Kwam Song Jum" (Beauty Queens in Memory) organised by the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre earlier last month. The event, also joined by Naren Punyapu, independent archivist and founder of the Urban Lamphun Community Museum, discoursed the political, cultural, social, and economic contexts that affect the management and organisation of a beauty pageant, as well as its popularity and decline.

In Thailand, for example, the birth of what was to become the national beauty contest was initially politically driven. The very first incarnation of the modern Miss Thailand, the "Miss Siam" contest, was first held in 1934, two years after the 1932 Siamese coup d'etat that changed the country from being an absolute monarchy to a constitutional democracy.

"Back then, not many people really understood what democracy was. The Miss Siam pageant was held as part of Constitutional Day celebrations to attract the public. Also, as provincial representation was compulsory, administrative staff of each province attended the event to learn about democracy and constitution. It was a very clever strategy," said Prasert.

Interestingly, looking at beauty contests as a form of cultural expression and the aftermath of social movements leads to an understanding that there's a certain perception of beauty that governs the taste of each beauty contest stage and this changes and evolves as social norms and standards change. The Miss Thailand contest, for example, partly reflects certain qualities society expects from a "perfect" woman. In the past, Miss Thailand winners often came from prominent families who defined the idea of the "well-bred lady". When globalisation hit the Kingdom, we enjoyed a few English-fluent, US-bred Thai beauty queens including the 1988 Miss Universe Porntip Nakhirunkanok, Areeya Sirisopha and Chalida Taochalee. And as the world reached the new millennium, the image of Miss Thailand was again reinvented, embracing more spontaneous, lively, fresh-faced university students which was the opposite of the calm and composed ladylike personality of Miss Thailand in previous generations. Added also to the marking system was an "intelligence and knowledge" category.

On the global stage, the seminar speakers agree that both Miss Universe and Miss World pageants search for "indigenous" and not "international" looks and those successful on the international stage are likely to have a "look" that reflects their ethnic origin.

"Take the two Miss Universes from Thailand - Apasra Hongsakula and Porntip - for example. They look distinctly Asian. Porntip, in particular, despite her fluency in English and broken Thai, looks very Asian," said Piamsuk.

"A 'lukkreung' [mixed blood] has never won the Miss Thailand pageant, even during the time when the lukkreung trend dominated the entertainment industry, because they're not likely to succeed on the international stage. Of course we do have a lot of lukkreung Miss Thailand World winners, but none of them have won a major award in the Miss World contest arena," added Prasert.

Social and cultural changes not only effect the perception of beauty on stage, but also its popularity and decline. As Prasert explained, the peak period of the Miss Thailand and Miss Thailand Universe pageants occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s, during which a lot of beauty queens became showbiz stars - Chutima Naiyana, Yollada Ronghanam, Sangravee Asavarak, Prapatsara Chutanutpong - and a few became supermodels - Prathumrat Woramali, Metinee Kingpayome and Sirinya Winsiri (Cindy Bishop).

"In the past, it was believed that a true lady would never 'ten kin ram kin' [sing, dance or perform for a living]. It was from the beauty pageant stages that showbiz stars were often plucked. Values have changed and we now have modelling agencies, talent shows and, most important of all, reality TV, as bridges towards a career in showbiz. Hence the popularity of beauty contests has waned," said Prasert.

Political, cultural and social factors have a certain impact on beauty queen contests. However, it is economics that plays a significant role. All beauty queen contests have a financial agenda behind them and it's that economic agenda that moulds the perception of beauty as well as who wins and loses. On the local level, Naren illustrates the economic drive behind the Miss Lamphun pageant, linking it to Lamphun and the northern region's history of fabric-making.

"Back then, women had less career choices and these fabric houses wanted beautiful and popular ladies to represent their stores in an interdependent relationship. As sponsors of a pageant, these shops would offer assistant jobs to the winning beauty queens, who also knew they would in turn have a secure job should they win.

"Sometimes, local beauty contests are held because there is leftover budget to spend," said Naren.

As for the international stage, finance lecturers Robert Lawson of Auburn University and Justin Ross of Indiana University interestingly point out the relationship between success of beauty queens in cross-national settings and market liberalism in the paper "Economic Freedom and Beauty Pageant Success in the World". The study found that, "countries with higher level of economic freedom have been underrepresented among semi-finalists", suggesting that "countries with high levels of economic freedom have more potential opportunities for women, and are therefore less likely to compete for social and economic status with socio-sexuality".

Although the rise of schools of feminism that denounce beauty pageants are partly responsible for the declining popularity of the contests, Piamsuk concluded that not all feminists see beauty contests as a threat to women's rights.

"There are still other schools of feminism that see beauty contests as empowering. They believe women can do whatever they want as long as they are not trapped by the traditional concept of a 'woman'," she concluded.

"If you are a beauty queen and you have your standpoint and good policies that promote a better society, and you know your own rights, receive the respect you deserve and are not exploited, it is not a problem at all."