Aswimsuit competition, more commonly now called abikini contest, is abeauty contest which is judged and ranked while contestants wear aswimsuit, typically abikini. One of the judging criteria is thephysical attractiveness of the contestants. TheBig Four international beauty pageants have included examples of such a competition.
Bikini contests have sometimes been organized or sponsored by companies for marketing purposes[1] or to find new models for their products, with the contests being presented as a form ofadult entertainment. Swimwear competitions have formed a part ofbeauty pageants, such as theMiss Earth andMiss World pageants, and sponsors have included commercial brands such asHawaiian Tropic. Contests have also been held in bars and nightclubs, during intermissions in boxing or wrestling matches and at car shows. Bodybuilding and fitness competitions have evolved to include a bikini division. Participants in such contests may be competing for prizes including trophies, money, and modeling contracts.
| Type | Image | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Beauty pageant |  | Finalists at the swimsuit round ofMiss Earth 2007 from Georgia, Canada, Venezuela, Spain, Thailand, Switzerland, and India. Although many pageants play down the bikini contest part of the competition,[2] participants in somebeauty contests, such asMiss Universe,Miss International,Miss Earth orMiss USA, are required to wear bikinis as part of the competition.[3] |
| Entertainment |  | Hooters bikini contest inCourtyard,Jacksonville, Florida, 2009. |
| Fitness | .jpg) | Fitness models at Hong Kong Bodybuilding Championships, 2012. Early women's bodybuilding was about bikini contests. After protests in the 1970s, Gloria Miller Fudge introduced actual bodybuilding.[4] Bikini competition was made a category of thefitness and figure competitions on November 7, 2010, byIFBB to attract more female participants.[5] The first Bikini Olympia was introduced in 2010. |
| Wrestling |  | Charles Wright hosting a bikini contest as part of theHulkamania Tour inMelbourne, 2009. Wrestlers such asEve Torres andKelly Kelly are also bikini models. |
In the United States, beauty pageants featuring women in bathing costumes became popular during the 1880s. However, such events were not regarded as respectable. The first "Miss America" pageant, held in 1921, made such contests somewhat more acceptable, although other, less well-tolerated beauty contests continued to be held as well. Miss America discontinued its swimsuit competition in 2018 to eliminate the criterion of contestants' physical appearance as a basis of judgment.
Bikini contests have sometimes been organised or sponsored by companies for marketing purposes[1] or to find new models for their products.Miss Hawaiian Tropic is organized byPlaytex to promote "Hawaiian Tropic", its suntan lotion. NOPI runs the annualHot Import Nights bikini contest, which is held in conjunction with the import car-show inAtlanta, Georgia.
There is also an annualHooters bikini competition.[6][7]
Some swimsuit competitions, such as theMiss Bumbum contest, held in Brazil,[8] and the Miss Reef contest, held in several South American countries, focus on the beauty of a single part of body, such as female buttocks.
Despite their popularity and women's voluntary participation, swimsuit competitions, especially bikini contests, are sometimes controversial. Critics argue that beauty contests reinforce the idea that girls and women are primarily valued for their physical appearance and pressure them to conform to conventional beauty standards.[9][10][11]
The first Miss World contest was organized byEric Morley in 1951 as a promotion for swimwear at theFestival of Britain.[12][13] The press welcomed the spectacle and referred to it asMiss World.[14] When the winnerKiki Håkansson from Sweden was crowned in a bikini, countries with religious traditions threatened to withdraw delegates. The bikinis were outlawed, andevening gowns were introduced instead.[15] Håkansson remains the only Miss World to have been crowned in a bikini,[14] an incident that was condemned byPope Pius XII.[16] The bikini was banned from Miss World beauty pageants after the controversy.[17][18]
Bikinis reappeared in later contests, amid additional controversy. In the 1970s and 1980s, the contest was regularly picketed by feminist protesters.[18] The pageant disappeared for a while and in 1996, when the Miss World contest was held inBangalore, India, dozens of Indian groups opposed to the event claimed that the contest degraded women by featuring them in bikinis. Social activist Subhashini Ali commented, "It's not an IQ test. Neither is it a charity show. It's a beauty contest in which these things have been added on as sops." The protests were so intense that the organizers were finally compelled to shift the venue of the swimsuit round to theSeychelles.[19][20][21] Countering these claims, the contest organizer said that, since 2000, the organization has raised £300 million for charity.[22]
In 2013, the Miss World event was hosted by Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country. The country's top Muslim clerical body, theIndonesian Ulema Council, suggested that the event should be cancelled because it promoted "hedonism, materialism, and consumerism," and was nothing but "an excuse to show women's body parts that should remain covered." The organizers later announced that the bikini would be replaced byone-piece swimsuits andsarongs, traditional beachwear on the resort island ofBali. Pageant Chairwoman Julia Morley explained, "I do not want to upset or get anyone in a situation where we are being disrespectful."[23]
Critics accused the Miss World organizers of caving to extremist pressures.[24] They point out that Bali is a destination for tourists from across the world who often wear minimal swimwear.[25]
Brooke Magnanti argued that the decision to yield to religious fundamentalists was not a victory forfeminism:
While no great fan of pageants there's something about this that rubs the wrong way. For some time it's been clear that the interests and tactics of certain types of feminism and certain types of religious fundamentalism not only converge, but seem to complement each other.[26]
Donald Trump, who owned theMiss Universe beauty pageant until it was acquired byWilliam Morris Endeavor,[27] toldFox News: "Well, I own Miss Universe, so I'm actually very happy about it—because if Miss World doesn't have bikinis, their ratings go right down the tubes".[28]
Vida Samadzai was the 2003Afghan contestant for theMiss Earth title. She was severely condemned by both the Afghan authorities and community for seeking the title.[29] Samadzai was born in Afghanistan but raised in the United States. She was living in India at the time of the contest.[30] TheAfghan Supreme Court banned swimsuit contests and said that appearing naked in beauty contests is completely un-Islamic and against Afghan tradition, human honour and dignity.Habiba Sarabi, the Afghan women affairs minister, said Samadzai's semi-naked appearance "is not women's freedom but in my opinion is to entertain men". Afghanistan's embassy in Washington DC declared that claims byAfghan American Samadzai to represent Afghanistan were baseless.[31] Samadzai, the second woman to be crowned Miss Afghanistan afterZohra Daoud's crowning in 1972, received a number of death threats and had to be under the protection of theFBI for three months.[29][32] She said that she was a bit uncomfortable wearing the "70s style red bikini" and was aware of the risks involved.[30][33][34]
The organizer ofMiss Earth 2017, aCarousel Productions pageant, was criticized for objectifying women when veiled delegates wore swimsuits in theBeauty of Figure and Form segment, which was first introduced in theMiss Philippines Earth 2017 pageant.[35][36][37][38] The event was one of the three preliminary judging segments of the pageant that includePoise and Beauty of Face andEnvironmental and Intelligence Competition.[39][35] The pageant organizer defended the "beauty of figure and form" segment, saying that it was intended to promote strict impartiality during pre-judging by focusing on the contestants' curves and execution, rather than the beauty of their faces.[40][36]
Miss Tanguita, which translates as "Miss Child Bikini", is held in Barbosa, Santader,Colombia, as an annual part of the "del Rio Suarez" Festival. Its organisers deny allegations that the competition is a camouflage for sexual exploitation. Instead, they describe it as an awareness event about the importance of children's fitness. Activists say that the competition, although legal, abuses the human rights of minors.[41]
{{cite magazine}}:Missing or empty|title= (help)The bikini segment is one of the cornerstones of the Miss World Beauty Pageant, but the 2013 event will not be featuring them. Out of respect to this year's Muslim host nation Indonesia, the 137 contestants at the event in Jakarta will be wearing the traditional long sarongs of Bali instead.
Bikini contests aren't going anywhere if Donald Trump has his way.
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