Finally, the organization that puts on the annual Miss America Pageant has decided to eliminate the demeaning swimsuit competition, saying that they will no longer judge women based on their physical appearance.
Gretchen Carlson, the new head of the organization’s board of directors, told Good Morning America
‘We are no longer a pageant. We are a competition.’ To make the point, the organization sent out a tweet of a bikini going up in smoke. Subtle, but effective.
‘Who doesn’t want to be empowered, learn leadership skills, and pay for college and be able to show the world who you are as a person from inside of your soul,’ Ms. Carlson went on to say.
‘That’s what we’re judging them on now…We want more women to know they are welcome in this organization.’
The swimsuit competition will now be replaced with an interactive session with the judges, in which the women will be asked to demonstrate their ‘passion, intelligence, and overall understanding of the job of Miss America’.
