One panellist said that inner beauty, the kind which is timeless and which cannot be tainted with age or disease, is what ought to be glorified rather than the external beauty. While censuring beauty contests from the cultural standpoint, it was said that though the country's culture itself has changed radically since the early 90s due to the satellite television channels, and that limitations have to be imposed on the extent to which we should allow our culture to change.

Another panellist said that such contests were making young women more conscious about their appearance and were helping to find many new talents in the entertainment industry and was paving the way for better careers and earning opportunities for many people as well.

The last panellist also supported beauty contests saying, that in the same way that "interest" had become well accepted in our banking system and economy, in-spite of being forbidden in Islam according to certain schools of thought, that in the same way, beauty contests could also be absorbed into the lifestyle of the country gradually subverting any religious barrier, if there should be any, in consideration of the positive aspects of the practice.

When I took the discussion to the gallery of university students, I was quite astonished to find that almost the entire audience supported beauty contests to varying degrees, while some did so, but with certain conditions. But none totally rejected the concept, showing that the youth of today certainly have a much wider and more liberal spectrum of thinking.

According to them, beauty contests could prove to be a means of promoting the country on a global platform and earning prestige for the country in the same way that dozens of glamorous damsels from India have done for more than the last decade and half by winning various international pageants. The audience lauded the idea of promoting beautiful people to the point that she may have many fans follow her advice, and then have her spread positive social messages, as it is an innate human instinct to be inclined towards facially and physically beautiful people.

On cross examination by myself, it was admitted by almost everyone that people of all ages seemed to enjoy watching international beauty contests, but at the same time, it was also agreed that somehow most people did feel that it was inappropriate for Bangladeshi women to participate in the same contests wearing all the revealing outfits that women of other countries wear. Stiff opposition continued from some members of the panel who debated that such competition was demeaning for those women who may not posses the qualities cited as "beautiful," but the audience rebuffed that by saying that there are competitions to bring out the best in everything including sports, intelligence, talent, etc. and so questioned why beauty should be an aspect where exceptions have to be made.

The panellists countered that all other qualities could be honed upon and improved but that beauty was an aspect that almost no one has any control over. Thus, in their eyes, they said competitions of talent should be glorified far more than competitions for proving beauty. They also added that these competitions had originated from pagan practices of ancient times where such contests were held for tyrannical rulers to choose their consorts and concubines, using the historical information to try and evoke negative sentiments against the practice.

Nonetheless, some audience members even compared the right to participate in such contests to democratic rights, and questioned why society should obstruct someone from doing something that she may want to of her own free will. Some also said that this could pave the way for promoting the apparel and textile industry of our country to the world at large.

When the panellists argued that such contests created bias against women with dark complexions, the audience retorted by pointing out all the dark complexioned pageant winners from Africa, Caribbean, and India.

Indeed, after a lot of heated as well as amusing arguments, a consensus seemed to gradually evolve that beauty contests as a whole may not be an idea to totally condemn, but that they should be held within certain limitations. It was suggested that perhaps if such competitions were to be held on a domestic level only such clothes should be worn which would not be in contradiction to cultural or social values.

Some of the local pageants held were praised for not having encouraged indecency, but at the same time, some did opine that some of the clothes used in the local competitions were becoming increasingly revealing in emulation of Western cultures and hence were starting to transcend limits of acceptability.

The most important thought that seemed to emerge is that even if one were to participate in such a competition locally or globally, or organize such an event, that a high degree of decency has to be maintained to increase acceptability across our nation.