Coming from a background where I know little to nothing about pageants other than what I catch glimpses of through the Miss America, Miss Universe, and "Toddlers and Tiaras" competitions, I know I am going to be giving criticism on a topic that I might not know the full background story about. However, I do know that a majority of the girls that go through these types of pageants all have a common goal in mind – to win.
Yes, winning in itself is obviously an amazing feeling and anyone will agree when you win something, a sense of proudness and accomplishment washes over you. I’m going to just ask one simple question though, who knows what a winner of a Miss America pageant actually does? I know I certainly don’t.
I know that the winner gets a big sparkly crown, a carefully placed sash, and a bouquet of gorgeous flowers draped over her forearm. She appears in some parades throughout the next year on floats or in the back of a car waving to crowds. And, well…maybe some other appearances?
The thing is that nationally televised pageants like this and annual shows like the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show gain the attention of almost every single American for about two hours. Wouldn’t you think that this magnitude of exposure should be used for a better purpose than for displaying soft-core pornography for the world to go crazy over?
Why do the contestants need to parade around in bikinis for people to judge their bodies? What’s so “Miss America” about that?The current statistics are that one-third (34.9 percent or about 78.6 million) of our nation’s adult population is considered obese according to the Journal of American Medicine. ONE-THIRD. I’m not really sure how 53, size-00 women in XXS bikinis represent America accurately…
The Question and Answer portion of the pageant also has a specific time limit. These answers that the girls give are either answers to questions they don’t know about (yes, I’m pointing fingers at you Betty Cantrell, Miss America 2016) or answers that they think the judges and crowd wants to hear. But really, she seemed to not have any clue about the Patriots’ Deflategate and admitted after winning, “I thought I blew my on-stage question. I had no idea what he asked me.” *Sigh*
As a woman who follows sports it makes me want to hit my head against the wall because answers like that give people reason to believe women are inferior and can’t do everything they can do.
I sincerely hope this pageant molds into one that is more based on intelligence and determination than a pretty face and hot bod in the future. All future Miss America contestants, please take this bit of advice and in the words of Ronda Rousey, “Don’t be a do-nothing-bitch,” be intelligent, be self-aware, and for the love of God, win pageants to inspire people, not be a face on a billboard.
