A former Deputy Minister for Communications, Victoria Hamah, has asked women not to patronise beauty pageants.
Victoria, who is now the Executive Director for the Progressive Organisation for Women’s Advancement (POWA), said at a book launch in Accra that beauty pageants sexualise, objectify and demean womanhood.
According to her, the stereotypical concept of beauty by the pageants make women who don’t fall in their criteria lose their self-worth and pride.
“We can’t continue to perpetuate the very ideas that isolate women from effective processes of engagement, by these same norms and traditions and sub-institutions that perpetuate that,” she said.
[contextly_sidebar id=”XWfrzTVnNp06KTqr2qSr4A8LhBYyVuun”]Speaking at the programme, Victoria said although Inna Patty, Chief Executive of Exclusive Event Ghana, organisers of the Miss Ghana pageant, is a good friend, their ideologies on pageantry differ, explaining that beauty pageants isolate women.
She further stated that Ghana made a mistake when it organised the first Miss Ghana pageant during the country’s first Independence celebration.
“It is as if that was our relevant contribution towards the independence process. So the men fought and struggled and brought power and we (women) have to go and showcase our beauty,” she added.
Beauty pageants have come under scrutiny on the back of countless allegations of pimping, extortion and sexual immorality.
Meanwhile, there are some who believe that beauty contests play critical roles like building one’s confidence, while beauty queens often taking up social projects, among other things.
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By: Kwame Dadzie | citinewsroom.com | Ghana