It happened. Not sure if people thought it would or not but Miss Teen USA Organization has said goodbye to their infamous swimsuit competition. The decision came in during the last few days of June. Of course, it made news and people went to social media to share their opinions about it.
Miss Teen USA and Miss USA are known for having modeling swimsuits and formal wear, and answering on-stage questions. However, there is a lot of back-stage stuff that goes on. Like speeches and interviews and flooded resumes. Contrary to popular belief there is a little more to the Miss USA Organization than the beauty. However, girls in swimsuits has been a big portion of both pageants. Two years ago, Miss Indiana USA got a lot of attention. She made the top 15 and went on to model swimsuit wear. But people believed that a reason she didn't get further to the top 10 or top 5 was because she looked "too big" in a swimsuit. What other reason is there to have a swimsuit competition if not to admire how a women looks in it? But imagine this being a teenager.
Miss Teen USA is a pageant that is designed for teenagers and young women from all states. Young girls wearing bikinis should not determine whether they represent the country on a younger level. Their intelligence, confidence and experience should determine it. Their platform and what they want to promote should determine if they win. Having judges (some even older men) decide a winner partially based off how a girl looks in a swimsuit (so basically how their body looks) is not healthy for a young girl. It's also not okay for girls to look at other girls and think, "I might not be skinny enough" or compare their bodies to other girls. We need to promote confidence and radiate beauty for all sizes.
Now let's shoot back to last week when the Miss Teen USA Organization announces they have eliminated the bikini portion of their pageant. I think this is a great thing. It's a step in the right direction and an acknowledgement from the Miss USA organization that they know what they have been promoting isn't right or healthy for girls. Will the next Miss Teen USA be plus-sized? Probably not. As sad as that makes me, because they are just as beautiful and qualified, it probably won't happen. In a few years? Yeah, maybe.
The fact that Miss Teen USA has created a change so impacting, inspiring and serious means they are determined to represent beauty in all ways. It's great and if they are making these changes now, it will only get better. Maybe not next year or in five years from now. However, when Miss Teen USA said goodbye to bikinis, they were saying hello to a future of beauty without definition and a little more curves.
