American Siren is a beauty contest

Beauty contest

A beauty pageant or beauty contest, is a competition that mainly focuses on the physical beauty of its contestants, although such contests often incorporate personality, talent, and answers to judges' questions as judged criteria...

 started November 2010. It is an urban

Urban area

An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...

 pageant offering a yearly cash prize, entertainment contracts, and scholarship assistance to the winners. The pageant's focus is to spotlight the modern urban woman and to promote women in business

Women in business

Even though women have contributed to economic productivity since the dawn of history, the phrase women in business typically describes the more modern phenomenon of women participating in the traditionally male work roles of industrial manufacturing, finance, and corporate ownership.Women hold...

.

History

American Siren was launched by Invision Filmworks in January 2011 as a recruiting tool for new faces in the entertainment industry, keeping inline with the principles of presenting more positive images of minorities and urban life. The pageant was created as a solution to the exploitation

Exploitation

This article discusses the term exploitation in the meaning of using something in an unjust or cruel manner.- As unjust benefit :In political economy, economics, and sociology, exploitation involves a persistent social relationship in which certain persons are being mistreated or unfairly used for...

 and controversy

Controversy

Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of opinion. The word was coined from the Latin controversia, as a composite of controversus – "turned in an opposite direction," from contra – "against" – and vertere – to turn, or versus , hence, "to turn...

 of hip hop models and so called video vixens; providing positive representations of the morals and values of minority and urban women instead of the more common negative, degrading, subservient, or misogynistic images popularly portrayed. The pageant's intention is to showcase the "urban woman" in a new light by combining the world of entertainment with the world of business thus giving young women not just positive new role models but educating them of the many career options available despite the preconceived prejudices toward beauty

Beauty

Beauty is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, meaning, or satisfaction. Beauty is studied as part of aesthetics, sociology, social psychology, and culture...

.

Competition

The competition is open to all women over the age of 18. Entry requires contestants to submit an essay and to sign an honor pledge see honor code

Honor code

An honour code or honour system is a set of rules or principles governing a community based on a set of rules or ideals that define what constitutes honorable behavior within that community. The use of an honor code depends on the idea that people can be trusted to act honorably...

. Not a traditional pageant accepting contestants representing their respective State

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

, the contestants instead represent a business or similar sponsor as Ms._____________(Sponsor/Business Name). American Siren licences the ability of Sponsors to conduct their own preliminaries for entry into the pageant.

Judging

The judging is conducted during the following events where contestants display their individuality, poise, and grace:

1) T-shirt and Stilettos: In the T-shirt and Stilettos portion of the pageant the contestants wear a T-shirt promoting their sponsor, their favorite cause, or charity.

2) V.I.P: In the V.I.P. portion of the pageant the contestants dress in their favorite party wear.

3) Sport Girl: In the Sport Girl portion of the pageant the contestants present themselves in a sport themed outfit be it something related to their favorite sport team or activity.

4) Alter Ego: In the Alter Ego portion of the pageant the contestants dress up as a stylized version of their personal alter ego

Alter ego

An alter ego is a second self, which is believe to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. The term was coined in the early nineteenth century when dissociative identity disorder was first described by psychologists...

.

5) Strictly Business: In the Strictly Business portion of the pageant the contestants wear outfits suitable for an interview or the board room.

6) Summer Time: In the Summer Time portion of the pageant the contestants wear beach or summer themed outfits.

7) Paparazzi Lights: In the Paparazzi Lights portion of the pageant the contestants dress in full celebrity glamor fit for the red carpet.

8) Siren Song: In the Siren Song portion of the pageant the contestants present their personal closing comments.

External links

• http://twitter.com/americansiren
• http://facebook.com/pages/American-Siren/181092145249361