A beauty pageant is a competition traditionally focused on judging and ranking the contestants' physical attributes. Pageants have now moved towards including inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, talent, character, and charitable involvement, through private interviews with judges and answers to public on-stage questions. Pageant titles are subdivided into Miss, Mrs. or Ms., and Teen – to clearly identify the difference between pageant divisions.
The organizers of each pageant may determine the competition rules, including the age range of contestants. The rules may also require the contestants to be unmarried, and be “virtuous”, “amateur”, and available for promotions, besides other criteria. It may also set the clothing standards in which contestants will be judged, including the type of swimsuit. Possible awards of beauty contests include titles, tiaras, crowns, sashes, bouquets, scepters, savings bonds, scholarships, and prize money. Some pageants have awarded college scholarships to the winner or to multiple runners-up.[16]
Beauty pageants are generally multi-tiered, with local competitions feeding into the larger competitions. For example, the international pageants have hundreds or thousands of local competitions. Additionally, beauty pageants offer a diverse variety of competitions. Child beauty pageants mainly focus on beauty, gowns, sportswear modelling, talent, and personal interviews. Adult and teen pageants focus on makeup, hair and gowns, swimsuit modelling, and personal interviews. A winner of a beauty contest is often called a beauty queen. The rankings of the contestants are referred to as placements. Male beauty pageants exist too. Male beauty pageants have the standard pageant trappings, including swimwear, evening wear, and interviews.[17]