Includes bibliographical references and index.

The cultural relevance of beauty pageants is waning / Hilary Levey -- Beauty pageants thrive in many cultures around the world / Rosie Goldsmith -- Beauty pageants give women of many cultures a voice / Hammasa Kohistani -- Beauty pageants show that women still have not achieved equality / Jill Filipovic -- There's nothing wrong with beauty pageants / Wendy McElroy -- Beauty pageants perpetuate myths about female beauty / Beth Dalbey -- Beauty pageants are full of scandal / Mark Schwed -- Beauty pageants in prison can have positive effects / Jean Trounstine -- Beauty pageant winners are not good role models / Kim Lunman -- African pageant winners can enhance their nation's image / Clayton Goodwin -- Prohibiting pageants in Muslim countries is worse than allowing them / Katha Pollit -- Miss Landmine beauty pageant helps landmine victims / Morten Traavik, as told to Robyn Stubbs -- Miss Landmine beauty pageant exploits landmine victims / Expat Advisory Services (EAS) -- Child beauty pageants reflect the culture's sexualization of children / James R. Kincaid -- Child beauty pageants should be eliminated / Billy Reed -- Teen beauty pageants can teach teens many valuable life lessons / Jennifer Trujillo.