Los concursos de belleza entre el imaginario y la estigmatización social: caso de estudio ciudad de Ambato

Abstract

The beauty pageants have created a discourse on the ideal of the sublime and perfect woman, governed by western parameters, which have been reproduced in the Ambateño society and which tend to evolve progressively over time. For this reason, the purpose of this research is to contribute to the discussion on the social construction of feminine beauty, which is crossed by the components of cultural domination and western beauty patterns, which have become entrenched in Ecuadorian culture through these types of contests, which promote exclusivist canons by commercializing the female body. Therefore, it is necessary to address this issue of social interest. For this, the research introduces historical elements on the social construction of the imaginaries of beauty and the female body. At the same time, a brief analysis of beauty from the western discourse and its perception through time is presented, as well as a short explanation of the beginning of beauty contests until today and how these events have become a political, economic and segregationist tool, as well as the participation of indigenous women in these events. To finally analyze how the social construction of beauty, governed by western standards, responds to a whitening process protecting the changes and aesthetic impositions for these types of contests. Through a qualitative methodology focused on the analysis of the discourse on the construction of women's beauty within the beauty pageants.