Astonished about local beauty pageant

[MolehillAlchemy]

I'm surprised these things even exist any more! Our local news paper is running 'Wow Factor 2013" and would like young ladies aged 18-29 to send in photos of them looking their 'hottest'.

Quote from article:

"If you are a wonder woman with a face and figure which makes people say ?wow? then this beauty contest is for you.
Fill in the form below and submit a photo of yourself looking your hottest to be entered into the competition."

www.newsshopper.co.uk/wowfactor2013/

Am I being unreasonable to expect that my daughters shouldn't have to open their local paper expecting to read local news, and find this bullshit instead?

I've been in touch with the editor and he seems willing to engage with opinions, so it's worth emailing him if you object to this.

Ugh, it gets worse.

Another link from their website:

"MAY the phwoars be with you, gorgeous girls of the News Shopper area!"

I hate the way women who choose this path are ridiculed and dismissed by other women.

The whole point of having choice is to exercise it.

Oh I thought this was going to be about baby pageants and I would have said YANBU as they get no say in the matter.

But a competition for adults? YABVU.

And a bit weird to be astonished?

The modelling industry is open to both female and male applicants should they choose that career path as free thinking adults.

yabu, they're ridiculous but if that's what people are into, who cares. No point making them relevant by making a big deal out of it, indifference kills.

YABU

Adult women are of their own volition, and using their own free will, choosing to enter these competitions, which they are perfectly entitled to do. They're not being forced into it, nor are you.

How utterly depressing. I know that 30 odd replies isn't gonna be a representative sample of all womankind, but hoped that the majority of replies would have been of the 'down with this sorta thing' variety.

Really? In 2013 it's okay to want to line women up, examine them by the favourable (or not) juxtaposition of their facial features, consider their waist/hip ratio, decide who's had the fortune to be randomly allocated the genes to produce the most acceptable combination of physical attributes, and award that person with a trip to Paris. And then apologise to the runners-up for not quite conforming to the currently acceptable standards of beauty.

Not saying at all that women don't have the right to enter these competitions, but why would they want to.

Makes me wanna puke.

So no one over 29 has the wow factor then?? WTF ....