Miss AI on Instagram
Virtual Influencers Representation in Beauty Pageants
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62161/revvisual.v17.6116Keywords:
Virtual influencers, Virtual models, Artificial intelligence, The beauty myth, Beuaty pageant, Gender stereotypes, InstagramAbstract
The first beauty pageant for virtual influencers created with generative artificial intelligence emerged in 2024. In this context, the main objective of this research is to analyze the image and representation of said competition’s participants on Instagram. Adopting a quantitative and qualitative methodology, 50 posts (966 images) on Instagram from the ten WAICA 2024 finalists are analyzed. For this process, an analysis template created for this study is used. Among the main results, it is obtained that the candidates perpetuate the feminine beauty ideal that reproduces patriarchal standards and bases their identity essentially on the image of the self.
Downloads
Global Statistics ℹ️
|
13
Views
|
7
Downloads
|
|
20
Total
|
|
References
Bajo, I. & Gutiérrez, B. (2022). Ciberviolencias machistas en Instagram: Relación entre la violencia recibida y el contenido compartido. IC Revista Científica de Información y Comunicación, 19, 211-236. https://dx.doi.org/10.12795/IC.2022.I19.10
Caldeira, S. (2016). Identities in Flux: An Analysis to Photographic Self-Representation on Instagram. Observatorio (OBS*), 10(3), 135-158. https://doi.org/10.15847/obsOBS10320161031
Carrillo-Durán, M., García, M. & Corzo, L. (2024). Influencers virtuales de apariencia humana como forma de comunicación online: el caso de Lil Miquela y Lu do Magalu en Instagram. Revista de Comunicación, 23(1), 119-140. https://doi.org/10.26441/RC23.1-2024-3453
Chaves, B. (2021). El papel de los influencers en la creación y reproducción del estereotipo de belleza femenina en Instagram. [Trabajo de Fin de Máster]. Universidad de Salamanca. https://gredos.usal.es/handle/10366/147203
Couvry, C. (2023). Les concours de beauté. Enjeux culturels, identitaires, politiques. Sociétés & Représentations, 56(2), 99-117. https://dx.doi.org/10.3917/sr.056.0099
da Silva, A. & Chimenti, P. (2021). “Humanized Robots”: A Proposition of Categories to Understand Virtual Influencers. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 25, 1-27. https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v25i0.3223
de Sousa, A. F., dos Santos, L., Cremonezi, C., Rodrigues, T. & Rodrigues, F. (2018). Image-discursive construction of body beauty in social media: effects on followers' body and eating perceptions. DEMETRA: Alimentação, Nutrição & Saúde, 13(2), 395–411. https://doi.org/10.12957/demetra.2018.33305
di Gesto, C., Nerini, A., Policardo, G. R. & Matera, C. (2022). Predictors of Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery: Instagram Images-Based Activities, Appearance Comparison and Body Dissatisfaction Among Women. Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, 46(1), 502–512. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-021-02546-3
Gibbs, M., Meese, J., Arnold, M., Nansen, B. & Carter, M. (2014). #Funeral and Instagram: death, social media, and platform vernacular. Information, Communication & Society, 18(3), 255–268. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2014.987152
Gil, A. (2023). Concursos de belleza o la competencia patriótica desde el sexismo. Reflexiones críticas. [Trabajo de Fin de Grado], Universidad de Valladolid. https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/60731
Haraway, D. J. (1991). Ciencia, cyborgs y mujeres. La reinvención de la naturaleza. Cátedra.
Hornero, C. (2024, July 10). Kenza Layli se convierte en la primera influencer virtual en ganar el certamen de belleza 'Miss IA'. Telecinco. https://tinyurl.com/y5rmawy2
Hua, W. (2013). Buying Beauty: Cosmetic Surgery in China. Hong Kong University Press.
Jiménez, L. (2024, April 26). Los 'influencers' y las redes sociales disparan los retoques estéticos en jóvenes. Público. https://tinyurl.com/4xxddmes
Johnson, B., Onwuegbuzie, A. & Turner, L. (2007). Towards a Definition of Mixed Methods Research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(2), 112-133. https://doi.org/10.1177/15586898062982
King-O’Riain, R. C. (2008). Making the Perfect Queen: The Cultural Production of Identities in Beauty Pageants. Sociology Compass, 2(1), 74–83. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2007.00056.x
Lavinia, E. (2024, Juin 18). The world’s first AI beauty pageant points to the future of social media influencers. FastCompany. https://tinyurl.com/mr2ksvzk
Martín, T. & Chaves, B. (2022). La influencia de Instagram en la creación y reproducción del ideal de belleza femenino. Anuario Electrónico de Estudios en Comunicación Social “Disertaciones”, 15(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/disertaciones/a.11148
Muñoz-Zapata, D. E. Estrada-Jaramillo, L. M. & Osorio-Franco, J. M. (2023). Problematizaciones de roles de género y estereotipos de belleza a través de cuentas de Instagram durante la pandemia en Colombia. Prospectiva: Revista de Trabajo Social e Intervención Social, 35, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.25100/prts.v0i35.12353
Neira, V. L. (2024). Violencia y discriminación en los certámenes de belleza: un análisis de Reina de Cuenca. Revista Pares Ciencias Sociales, 4(1), 57-73. http://id.caicyt.gov.ar/ark://4m3j9pu66
Poaquiza, C. E. (2023). Los concursos de belleza entre el imaginario y la estigmatización social: caso de estudio ciudad de Ambato. Trabajo de Graduación previo a la obtención del Título de Licenciada en Comunicación. Universidad Técnica de Ambato, Ecuador.
Rodrigo-Martín, I., Muñoz-Sastre, D. & Rodrigo-Martín, L. (2022). Los influencers virtuales como líderes de opinión y su empleo en técnicas en comunicación política. Revista Mediterránea de Comunicación, 13(1), 251-266. https://www.doi.org/10.14198/MEDCOM.20751
Roussange, G. (2024, November 20). Anne Kerdi, la première guide touristique régionale imagine par l’IA. Les Echos. https://tinyurl.com/2284uhhy
Sudjic, O. (2019). Expuesta. Un ensayo sobre la epidemia de la ansiedad. Alpha Decay.
Syarifudin, A. & Ummah, K. C. (2023). The representation of female beauty in the Instagram pageant lovers. Digital Theory, Culture & Society, 1(1), 39–52. https://doi.org/10.61126/dtcs.v1i1.8
Villén-Higueras, S. J. & Mata-Núñez, A. (2025). Influencers virtuales femeninas y representación de género: análisis de su imagen en Instagram. European Public & Social Innovation Review, 10, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2025-568
Weigel, M. (2017). Los trabajos del amor. Melusina.
Wolf, N. (1991). El mito de la belleza. Emecé.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Authors retain copyright and transfer to the journal the right of first publication and publishing rights
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Those authors who publish in this journal accept the following terms:
-
Authors retain copyright.
-
Authors transfer to the journal the right of first publication. The journal also owns the publishing rights.
-
All published contents are governed by an Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Access the informative version and legal text of the license. By virtue of this, third parties are allowed to use what is published as long as they mention the authorship of the work and the first publication in this journal. If you transform the material, you may not distribute the modified work. -
Authors may make other independent and additional contractual arrangements for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the article published in this journal (e.g., inclusion in an institutional repository or publication in a book) as long as they clearly indicate that the work was first published in this journal.
- Authors are allowed and recommended to publish their work on the Internet (for example on institutional and personal websites), following the publication of, and referencing the journal, as this could lead to constructive exchanges and a more extensive and quick circulation of published works (see The Effect of Open Access).
