Miss America was started in 1921 as a bathing beauty pageant. It is certainly the oldest and probably the most classically prestigious of the contests. It has such famous winners as Lee Meriwether (original Catwoman), Vanessa Williams, Gretchen Carlson (news anchor), and so on. It’s seen today as something like faded glory; the wholesome image Miss America is known for is an anachronism, and the pageant’s attempts to get “with it” are failing miserably.
Miss USA was started in 1952 by Catalina Swimwear company when that year’s Miss America refused to make appearances in swimwear. Although it had a somewhat shaky beginning, it is now the stronger of the two pageants and the more commercially successful. The winners tend to be less lasting presences as far as fame goes, but during their reign, they are in the public eye far more than Miss Americas. Their promotion is very good, and Miss USA winners are seen as younger, more stylish, and more model-attractive than their Miss America counterparts.
Aside from the contestant calibre I’ve mentioned, the main difference between the two pageants is that Miss America contestants are required to perform a talent and have a charitable cause they support, while Miss USA contestants support the pageant’s selected charity and there is no talent portion to speak of. The age limits are also more strict within the Miss America system: you must be 17-24 compared with Universe’s 17-26.
Miss Universe is also an early-1950s Catalina Swimwear creation, and is the next step for Miss USA winners. All across the globe, countries send their representatives to this pageant where one emerges victorious. As with Miss USA, there are few notable winners, but many go on to be highly successful models. There is also no talent portion in the Miss Universe pageant.
Miss World, Earth, and International are pageants similar to Miss Universe, and are generally viewed from most to least prestigious in the order that I’ve listed them. They are usually the “runner-up” pageants to Miss Universe. For example, the winner of the Miss Spain contest will go on to compete at Miss Universe, her first runner-up will compete at Miss World, her second runner-up will compete at Miss Earth. Many countries, however, just send their winner to Miss Universe and let their World/Earth/International entrants do so on their own time.
As far as prestige and “rip-offs”, Miss America and its local pageants (Miss Clark County, Miss Nevada, etc) are the only ones of the listed pageants not to charge entry fees. I believe in Miss USA there is some way to circumvent the entry fee (like if you win a paid local), but there is a large amount of spending in any pageant - for the cost of gowns, hair, etc. Miss America is seen as being the most traditional and classic pageant in America, with Miss USA being the trendier, more glamorous contender that is quickly stealing America’s thunder. Internationally, Miss Universe is by far the most prestigious but the other pageants are respected.
The universal pageants always have scandals, always. And they are very highly publicized (whether or not in a PR move, I don’t know, but we do hear about them often). Miss America and its ilk have smaller scale scandals, nothing that generally rocks the nation and much of it is kept contained inside pageant circles.
I’m not sure what is meant by cross-competitions, but as for a governing body for pageants, there is none - all contests are legitimate as long as they are not infringing upon another’s copyright.
