A protest by 40 women and men outside the School of Oriental and African Studies’ (Soas) heats of the Miss University of London Beauty Pageant has caused a furore across the media.
Most of the opposition to our protest has come from liberals who believe that beauty contests are just a “bit of fun” in our “post-feminist” society.
But our position is strengthened by what has been a rolling back in the rights of women to walk down the street, or through campus, without the fear of being judged on their looks.
We have had comments such as, “You’re just jealous because you don’t look like these women – you would be OK if you put on a bit of lipstick,” to “If you don’t like being judged by your looks why don’t you wear a burkha?”
There have been even worse remarks, such as “women fantasise about being raped”.
This uncovers the terrible reality behind the seemingly benign arguments.
Women continue to face oppression in our society, with lower pay than men, worse job opportunities and the burden of childcare. We do not believe that women are being forced to enter these contests but how free is their choice?
There is a bombardment from the media and advertising about how a woman should act, dress and think. Because of this it is no surprise that 63 percent of young women would rather be a glamour model than a doctor or a lawyer.
We are told that being paraded round like a prize bull in a beauty pageant is the sort of liberation that women have fought for.
We also wonder how the contestants felt when men shouted that they should work in a brothel? With the introduction of top-up fees, some women students can see the exploitative glamour industry as an opportunity to make a bit of cash to help them through university.
What message does this send to our younger generation? That in order to feel valued you have to devalue yourself? We want a society that does not judge and then rank us on anything, let alone on the narrow stereotype of what it is to be beautiful.
We were told by a man – ironically in a class on feminism – that we should stop telling people what to think.
But by speaking out we are challenging the dominant ideas in society and making people question them.
This is exactly what we aim for. Why should we be silenced? We object to being objects and we are going to continue shouting.
We urge everyone to support the campaign against these degrading pageants by signing the petition, details of which can be found at » www.solomonsmindfield.net
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