Student and Organizer Perceptions of Beauty Pageants in School Intramurals in Leyte, Philippines

Abstract

School Intramurals in the Philippines often center on sports, athletics, games, and other competitive physical activities. Usually a separate and external event, the beauty pageant has become a popular and integral part of school intramurals. Little is known about the intramural beauty pageant. It is a topic that still needs to be explored further so it may be understood better and, consequently, be made more relevant to the lives of students and society at large. This non-experimental, descriptive study looked into the intramural beauty pageants in seven colleges in Leyte Province, Philippines, to describe the intramural beauty pageant’s nature and purpose, as well as students’ and organizers’ attitudes and perceptions about intramural beauty contests. Data gathered from 28 actives, and 168 passive pageant participants were organized thematically to extract insights and patterns that would depict the phenomenon coherently. The study found, among others, that schools hold pageants to choose representatives for external beauty contests and to entertain spectators during the intramurals. It was also found that students ascribe positive value to the intramural beauty and consider it important but not relevant to school intramurals. Keywords -  Physical education, school intramurals, sports, beauty pageant, descriptive research, Leyte, Philippines, Southeast Asia