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Miss America has always been a scholarship pageant, not a beauty pageant. Yes, they had swimsuits, but historically the women were never of the caliber of beauty found in beauty pageants like Miss Universe. I remember some back in the day I thought were actually unattractive.
Miss America ratings began declining a couple of decades ago due to this. In an attempt to compete with beauty pageants like Miss USA and Miss Universe, they tried to "sex it up" a bit, with more beautiful contestants and skimpier swimwear. But the ratings did not improve. They have been all over the cable dial in recent years trying to find a home because the big networks didn't want them anymore.
So I think they have decided to just give up on ratings, and go back to what they have always been, which is the single biggest provider of scholarships for women in the country, and go back to the focus being on academic and other accomplishments. I say good for them. To me it was a bit silly to have a woman with a 4.5 GPA planning to study astrophysics, having to stand in high heels and a bikini in order to earn a scholarship to do so.
I don't even know if it's on TV anymore. Last year I think they were relegated to CMT or some other channel many don't even get. And that was with swimsuits and beautiful women.
Neil deGrasse Tyson got his scholarship that way. It's just a step to becoming an astrophysicist that they all have to go through. Bill Nye wore a one-piece and look where he ended up.
This is an overshoot of the Me Too movement. There was nothing wrong with women in swimsuits. Guys compete in speedos for bodybuilding.Should we cancel that too for fear of exploitation.
There is legitimate exploitation and then there is this.
This is an overshoot of the Me Too movement. There was nothing wrong with women in swimsuits. Guys compete in speedos for bodybuilding.Should we cancel that too for fear of exploitation.
There is legitimate exploitation and then there is this.
But bodybuilding is a physical contest. Again, Miss America is a scholarship pageant and always has been.
I bet feminist mafia is happy about this situation. But after their ratings drop even further, I bet they would reinstate the beauty contest part... Swim suit competition was the reason most guys ever watched this show. And no, you can not watch the women of the same beauty and quality on Pornhub, etc...
But bodybuilding is a physical contest. Again, Miss America is a scholarship pageant and always has been.
Bodybuilding is not a physical contest. They do not lift weights for the contests. It is about pure looks/aesthetics and men in speedos showing off their body.
I haven't watched it in years, so I don't really care. I always rather liked the evening gown portion though. I felt like the gowns gave us a little insight into their individual personalities.
Bodybuilding is not a physical contest. They do not lift weights for the contests. It is about pure looks/aesthetics and men in speedos showing off their body.
That's what I mean, body building contests are about physical attributes. Miss America is not a beauty pageant like Miss USA is, it is a scholarship pageant. They are all academically highly accomplished women or they would not be in the pageant. Swimsuit was supposed to be under a "fitness" category but was a small percentage of the score, 15%. There are no cash prizes, no modeling contracts, no cars like Miss USA. The only awards are in the form of scholarships. Between the main contest and the local and state pageants, the Miss America Organization gives out 45 million in scholarships to girls and women yearly.
In reality, they were debasing the contest in recent years in a futile attempt to compete ratings-wise with pageants like Miss USA. I'm sure they are well aware ratings will go down even further, but truthfully they were in the basement already for the past 10-15 years and they really have little to lose by doing this.
I sort of understand getting rid of the swim suit competition as it promotes sexualization of the contestants (although most women pose on instragram in swim suits with no problem) but getting rid of the evening gown competition is a bit absurd. What is the point of a beauty contest if beauty is not judged. Is this supposed to be a spelling bee or something? In the end it doesn’t really matter. Years ago it was special but nowadays with the internet and access to millions of tv shows, movies and video games and etc. it’s irrelevant
I didn't see anything in the announcement about getting rid of the evening gown competition - did I miss it? That would be ridiculous. I could be onboard with dumping the swimsuit competition...maybe...but the Miss America pageant was, I believe, founded to celebrate the beauty of young women. Maybe they could have the competitors also be judged on how they look in fashionable outfits of different they pick themselves (maybe with the help of designers hired by the show?) - or do they already do that?
Now if they want to have a competition of young women judged by their smarts and/or artistic/performance talents, that might be interesting. But leave out 'commitment to world peace' or any measurement of what their favorite charity is; because that gets into values judgement, and I wouldn't want to judge between a young woman who's passionate about improving young girls' lives in the Sudan and another young woman who does walks/runs for cancer charities - they're both good causes.
I always enjoy watching the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which is certainly a far cry from a beauty pageant; for the sharpness, intelligence, focus, and sheer grit of the kids as well as their prodigious memories.
I think that Miss America will be cancelled within the next five years if not sooner.
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