The Big Miss Universe Miss

Steve Harvey made a big mistake Sunday night when he announced the wrong winner as the host of the 2015 Miss Universe pageant. Critics chuckled, noting he was more accustomed to taped productions and unsuited for the live television gig.

But he might have been just the man for the job. His error was practically Freudian, revealing the true nature — and fundamental flaw — in beauty competitions and all matters that revolve around the fleeting, fickle quality women seem to value above all else: vanity.

In case the heavily Photoshopped, perfectly proportioned culture of modern beauty had you fooled, vanity as a singular goal is a trap for women. One minute you’re wearing the crown, the next, you’re standing in the shadow of someone who’s considered fairer than thou.

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That Harvey’s mistake was a matter of human error is immaterial. Women who insist on being judged by the fairness of their skin or proportions inevitably end up being judged unfairly. When society suspends the qualities of character and intelligence from the equation of a woman’s total worth, we end up with a skewed perception of female power.

It’s no wonder women are always complaining about gender equality. It’s impossible for women to stand on equal par with men as long as women promote beauty as a virtue. Men are more likely to value productive qualities like business acumen, wisdom, and wit, and the effect is an appreciation of their total value over time.

Beauty, on the other hand, is fleeting, not only because it is tied to age, but because it is subject to trends. Kim Kardashian is the gold standard of beauty today, but what about tomorrow? If history is a teacher, her “look” will grow old in due time. The appeal of curvaceous hips and eyebrows on fleek will wane as soon as the next “it” girl (or “it” family) rises to popularity.

Hence the brilliance of Harvey’s flub.

This was no mistake: Harvey’s error was critical to our cultural dialogue right now. The inadvertent message: Women, be wary of placing yourself on a pedestal where you are judged primarily by your looks.

The crown of glory we call beauty is both elusive and short-lived. Worst yet, it is depreciative.

Actress Brie Larson touched on the same troubling concept when, amid the Oscar buzz she’s received for her movie, “Room,” she questioned the allure of being labeled an “it” girl.

“Who was ‘it’ before ‘it’? And when does ‘it’ go away? When did I get ‘it’? Who’s going to take ‘it’ away?” Larson said.

Women should be wary of any competition — from pageants to modeling gigs to likes on Instagram — that uses beauty as a singular standard of value for women. Marilyn Monroe may have believed diamonds were her best friends; at the moment in which she chose to take her own life, however, her closest “friends” weren’t much help. Beauty may be a feather in one’s cap, but it is ill-conceived when it is worn as a sapphire-encrusted crown.

As long as beauty is the gold standard for women, even the sharpest of crowns won’t help us break through the glass ceiling. We would do well to reconsider the lessons we teach our daughters about beauty, starting with the symbolism of the 2015 Miss Universe debacle.

Competing on the basis of beauty is tempting; just don’t get too attached to the title.