# Miss America no longer a beauty pageant **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 5, 2018, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458 "2018-06-05T12:28:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458/21 "2018-06-05T18:34:48Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Strategic error - their ratings will tank. > > In a couple-three years, I look for them to go full reality TV. Cage match, voting Miss Texas off the island, hidden cameras back stage, and the talent competition will be performed on a tightrope over a crocodile pit. > > If they can’t get enough crocodiles, they can use the stage moms. > > Regards, > Shodan They should do stage moms vs crocodiles. I am wagering on the moms for that one. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458/22 "2018-06-05T18:38:59Z")
Miss Teen USA also got rid of swimsuits for “Fitness wear” which I guess means yoga pants and tight tops. Not that much of a change. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458/23 "2018-06-05T18:56:49Z")
Jeez, why did they bother? Keep the swimsuit contest. In fact, add a buck naked one too. Won’t make much of a difference anyway. Such contests belong in the slave markets of the Roman Empire. Not in a modern society. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458/24 "2018-06-05T19:17:54Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > Reading more closely, I guess they do claim that they “will no longer judge contestants based on physical appearance” (which the OP mentioned, though I didn’t quite pick up that it was a quote). > > We’ll see. Until contestants show up in old baggy sweatshirts, everyday hair and makeup/lack thereof, it’s still in part a beauty competition. Yeah . . . I’ll march my fat, middle-aged ass to the auditions and see if I’m selected for my talents. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458/25 "2018-06-05T20:28:24Z")
It seems to me like it would have made more sense to scrap the event entirely and create a new event from scratch to replace it. Rightly or wrongly, the parts they’re losing are the parts most strongly associated with the contest in the public perception. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458/26 "2018-06-05T20:37:32Z")
The pageants themselves have been a bit creepy for me and I don’t think I’ve ever watched more than about 5 minutes of one, and not any of them in more than 20 years. Trump and his, AHEM, perversity certainly didn’t help. For me removing the swimsuit part is “Great, should have been done 20+ years ago or maybe never included in the first place.” Hopefully the next step will be closing them down completely. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458/27 "2018-06-05T21:05:16Z")
Decades ago, it was quite interesting to see lovely young women in swimsuits (especially considering there was almost _ **no** _ competition). Now, that we have Cable TV, CD’s, and the Internet, viewing the Miss America beauty pageant (ahem … scholarship competition) is relatively tame by comparison. I have a feeling that this pageant might be coming to an end soon. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458/28 "2018-06-05T21:21:23Z")
it came close to going belly up not long ago when they could only get a cable TV deal, CBS, ABC, etc passed on it. the local Miss NC pageant was always on TV live up until around 10 years ago. they said they can’t sell the ads to keep it on the air. Miss Canada went away in 1993 but it came back in 2009. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458/29 "2018-06-05T21:21:42Z")
As the previous commenter noted while ninjaing me (:D), the swimsuit competition made (sexist) sense back in the day, because it was one of a relatively few socially acceptable ways to put a scantily-clad woman in front of a mass audience. Today, of course, there are innumerable outlets for that, and the pageant wisely isn’t trying to compete with the internet. Pageantry as a whole has blossomed into a subculture, but it’s also become very stylized, pursuing a statuesque sort of technical perfection rather than warmth or anything particularly sexy. It’s not even really about the male gaze anymore; the panel of judges for this year’s Miss America includes only one hetero male, along with four women and a gay man. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458/30 "2018-06-05T21:45:10Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Pageantry as a whole has blossomed into a subculture, but it’s also become very stylized, pursuing a statuesque sort of technical perfection rather than warmth or anything particularly sexy. It’s not even really about the male gaze anymore; the panel of judges for this year’s Miss America includes only one hetero male, along with four women and a gay man. A few years ago, I hung out with some young ladies who had made it to the Miss America finals as their state winners. Even then they referred to it as a drag show. They were conventionally OK looking women, but they knew how to put on the costumes and hair and makeup for pageants. I suspect these new changes to the pageant will throw a wrench into how they compete, because it removes the drag show aspect. We might find that the OK looking competitors who knew how to put on the drag are not as competitive, whereas more natural beauties will take over the top spots. I’m sure there is a scientific study in there somewhere… ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458/31 "2018-06-05T22:14:59Z")
I was surprised some of these women compete more than 1 year. They start out in pageant from town A , then next year they move on to another town. I don’t believe there is a limit except the upper age limit which I think is 25. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458/32 "2018-06-05T22:19:04Z")
And that whole ‘pageant culture’ led to those [horrifically creepy](http://www.barfblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/disgust.jpg) children’s pageants. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2018, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458/33 "2018-06-05T22:23:38Z")
and they use Rick James super freak at the child pageants too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458/34 "2018-06-06T00:38:55Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > And that whole ‘pageant culture’ led to those [horrifically creepy](http://www.barfblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/disgust.jpg) children’s pageants. …which did indirectly give us [this scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBQn-oPqdrA), so it’s not a total wash. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458/35 "2018-06-06T02:35:51Z")
Ok, that was creepy and disturbing enough for me to close the tab. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458/36 "2018-06-06T22:32:18Z")
Well that blows, gonna have to switch over to watching the victoria’s secret show. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458/37 "2018-06-06T23:48:31Z")
> [@Algher](#): > > I was involved in the Miss America system back in the 80s. > > Here is the scoring system from 2017: > > [http://missamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/MA17-Scoring-Guide.pdf](http://missamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/MA17-Scoring-Guide.pdf) > > Interview – 25% > On-Stage Question – 5% > Talent – 35% > Evening Wear – 20% > Lifestyle and Fitness Swimwear – 15% Based on that, it seems like a natural move to swing harder into the talent show aspect of things. They could pitch it as something like the Girl Scout Cookie version of America’s Got Talent. Not necessarily better than you can get elsewhere, but you’re helping out young girls, so you really ought to buy. And the smart girls will dress pretty while doing their dance numbers, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458/38 "2018-06-11T21:40:53Z")
People still watch Miss America? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458/39 "2018-06-11T23:56:47Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > People still watch Miss America? It spent some time out in the Basic Cable wilderness including Country Music Television and TLC in the recent past. Yep, it got that bad. The years have not been kind to this franchise. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458/40 "2018-06-12T01:40:24Z")
1. As a straight man, beautiful young women is swimsuits was always ok. They seemed out of place, however, even so. 2. I haven’t watched a beauty pageant in more than a decade. 3. They’ve just killed the pageant, not saying it’s a bad thing. Nobody wants to watch “Miss Woke America” discussing the food-miles of her chia farm. They’ll also bring the whole sex/gender can or worms and tip it over. 4. Having said that, if free women want to participate on a show based on their external appearance, it’s their body, their choice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-america-no-longer-a-beauty-pageant/815458.md?page=3)