For years pageant contestants have been asked to disclose their waist, hip, and bust sizes, but as a form of rebellion against these oversexualized events, the contenders in the Peru Beauty Pageant, this past October chose to share trafficking, femicide, and harassment statistics in place of the measurements.

As feminism has become more acceptable , using this overly sexualized pageantry to exhibit their cause has spread awareness quickly. This could possibly bring …?

Stella Haussler, a sophomore at Woodside, when asked about this pageantry exclaimed, “Yeah! I definitely heard about that pageant. I’m so happy that the contestants were able to spread awareness about this topic to such a wide range of people. And maybe if the right people hear these statistics some big changes can actually happen involving this cause.”

Camila Canicoba, a pageant contestant said the following when asked to give her measurements: “My name is Camila Canicoba, and I represent the department of Lima. My measurements are: 2,202 cases of femicide reported in the last nine years in my country.”

Canicoba is just one of the many contestants who opted out of sharing their breast, waist, and hip measurements, but instead gave shocking statistics to send a message to the audience.

By these contestants sharing the statistics on femicide and sexual harassment, not only did it spread awareness, but it was a silent rebellion against how women are judged on their body sizes to win a pageant. This may not only aide feminism, but it may help reform how beauty pageants are conducted.

Senior, Nina Pagano had a similar reaction to Haussler, “I think this is a spectacular thing. Not only does this help bring attention to the harassment and femicide women are enduring. But, it’s blatantly calling out the pageant organizers for the sexist ways they judge the pageant contestants.”

Peru is one of the more heavily affected countries when it comes to sexual assault: 50% of women in Peru have experienced some sort of violence from an intimate partner or former partner.

Gianna Toschi, a sophomore at Woodside, says, “It makes me sad to know that it takes so many girls being affected by this issue for people to start noticing. One girl being affected should be big enough for everyone to try and make a difference. I hope Woodside can try and make a difference involving this cause.”  

Gianna later expanded by saying she hopes to see Woodside spread awareness to this cause by really emphasizing how pertinent and relevant it is to us students.