Miss America Inner Beauty Pageant is a sign of progress
Gretchen Carlson, the chairwoman of the Miss America board of directors, announced on June 5, 2018 on “Good Morning America”, that the swimsuit competition will be eliminated from the event, and try to be more inclusive when it comes to women of all shapes and sizes.
Carlson said that from now on, Miss America will be a competition instead of a pageant, and that “we will no longer judge our candidates on their outward physical appearance. That’s huge.” The swimsuit competition will be replaced by a live interactive session with the event judges, “where she will highlight her achievements and goals in life and how she will use her talents, passion, and ambition to perform the job of Miss America.”
Not only is the swimsuit competition being eliminated, but the evening gown competition will be changing as well, as contestants will now be able to wear “whatever they choose” and contestants will also talk how they would advance their social impact initiatives during this part of the event. The talent competition is remaining and won’t change.
What do all these changes mean for the women in America?
Women who choose to view these events will be able to better relate to the contestants. The contestants will get a chance to talk about themselves and their goals if they happen to win the title of Miss America. Contestants will no longer be judged on their physical appearances, but rather, their inner self. Contestants will feel confident in wanting to compete because they know that their outward appearance is not going to be judged anymore, and overshadow all they have to offer if being crowned Miss America. Carlson has “heard from a lot of young women who say, “We’d love to be a part of your program but we don’t want to be out there in high heels and a swimsuit” so guess what, you don’t have to do that anymore,” Carlson said. “Who doesn’t want to be empowered, learn leadership skills and pay for college and be able to show the world who you are as a person from the inside of your soul.
Change is hard. Miss America has been around since 1921, and after all these years, the swimsuit competition has been cut. Yes, it is easy for Carlson to claim that they are not going to judge the contestants on their outward appearance, but it is another thing to actually stick to your world. Miss America has been constructed within a world in which beauty standards for women, standards that are deeply connected to race and class and the persistent inequalities that lurk among our easy pageantries, are so omnipresent as to be utterly unremarkable. Don’t get me wrong. I am commending this decision. Miss America has decided to celebrate the accomplishments and talents that the contestants have to offer, and to take that into greater consideration than how the contestants look while clad in a swimsuit.
Women who choose to participate in Miss America should not feel like they are being objectified and have no chance of winning the title if they do not look a certain way. They should not be restricted, and be confident, in pursuing the title and be courageous in celebrating and displaying what their capabilities are. Women who choose to watch Miss America should not have their self-esteem broken down. Yes, the contestants are beautiful, and we may sit there and wish that we had her dress, or her skin tone, or her hair, etc. I am about to drop a cliche here, but what’s on the inside matters far more than what’s on the outside. Miss America is a representation of the United States America, and if she can only offer looks, and nothing else, that doesn’t make America look so good, now does it?
Even though I always end up missing the event when it comes on television due to my lack of keeping up with the event, and because I don’t want to sit here and feel my self-esteem lower, I am planning to watch it in September to see how these renovations are enacted. It’s time we celebrate women and all their capabilities.
