Objectification or waste? Debate around the Elimination of Beauty Queens Contests in Ecuador

Abstract

This paper describes the discussion process that took place in Ecuador in 2019 in relation to beauty queen contests, which concluded with its elimination in several cities of the country, such as Quito, Loja and Ibarra. Research recounts testimonies from the organizations involved in the protests in different areas of Ecuador, as well as civil servants and specialists in this kind of events. In addition, we analyzed 34 press articles, 16 official documents and 46 postings on social networking sites, where different arguments were debated among those who defended women’s rights and those who called for the tradition to be protected. The debate led to the end of public spending on beauty contests in some of the most representative cities in the country, with its consequent elimination from the institutional acts of which those were part previously. In this paper we highlight that, although the economic argument played an undeniable role in this decision, this event was also a triumph for the Ecuadorian feminist movement, that considered beauty contests as a sort of objectification of women. In this case, the feminist argument could rely on the Organic Law to Prevent and Eradicate Violence Against Women, adopted the year before, in which symbolic violence is mentioned.