As beauty pageants have been prone to stereotyping since the very beginning, they are often subject to feminist critique. Stereotypes serve to simplify complex fenomena and are common in the media world. This is precisely why the media image of the women participating in beauty pageants is fairly specific and stereotyped. This thesis examines the media's attittude towards beauty pageants and explores the ways in which stereotyping of the said pageants and the feminist beliefs of the contestants manifests in media. The main objective is to determine how the Slovenian media depicts beauty pageants and its contestants. The thesis explores whether the pageants today strive towards eliminating gender stereotypes or if they perpetuate typical stereotyping. It also seeks to answer whether pageants are a triumph of feminism or its enemy. The empirical part of the thesis presents qualitative research comprised of ten interviews and an analysis of the media discourse in the form of fifteen articles in a printed medium and two digital ones. Beauty pageants are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they offer the contestants an opportunity to gain independence and confidence, while on the other, they aid in upholding beauty ideals, stereotyping contestants and rejecting diversity.
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