We live in a time of awareness. More and more women are rising up and resisting societal gender stereotypes presented by society and in media, however there are companies that are still operating off of these gender norms. One example is the Miss America pageant. To move away from the scandals that plagued the organization in 2017, Miss America decided to rebrand themselves by: implementing more female leadership, removing the infamous swimsuit portion, emphasizing each contestant’s intelligence and eloquence with more interviews. They call their new competition the “Miss America 2.0.”

The most impactful aspect of this new Miss America is how it seems to be less about physical beauty. And yet, Miss America is intrinsically archaic. No matter how they rebrand themselves to these changing times or distance themselves from a history of sexism, they are a beauty pageant at its core that showcases a narrow representation of women. Is this 97-year-old beauty-based competition is even still relevant? Here are 3 things that make Miss America outdated:

Physical Appearance

The new Miss America chair, Gretchen Carlson, has removed the bathing suit portion from the competition and replaced it with a segment of judges asking the women questions about their goals and aspirations in life. But let’s be honest: there will never be a Miss America who is size 14+. Although on the Miss America website you will not find specific requirements for weight, this Business Insider article shows what the average weight of all the Miss Universe winners were. It’s hard to believe that Miss America’s winners weights differ that drastically from Miss Universe’s so it’s safe to say that the women must have a certain physical appearance to even be considered.

Equality

It’s 2018 which means that the word “woman” now has a different meaning than what it did when Miss America first started. There are many trans-women and gender non-conforming individuals that I’m sure would love to see someone who identifies the same way they do on national television however Miss America still conforms to the sexist and gender discriminatory definition of woman. To qualify for Miss America you must have no marital status (past or present), be between the ages of 17-25, and have no kids. This is not only discriminatory but also forces this idea that you must be young, childless and single to be beautiful and win this contest that is supposed to celebrate all women.

Woman Vs. Woman

Regardless of what label Miss America has chosen to rebrand themselves as, the women are still being pitted against each other to earn a title that, by name, makes them representative of this country. They are being compared to each other based on their intelligence, appearance, and demeanor. And although there is an outwardly supportive community, in the end, there can only be one winner according to a panel of judges. As if women aren’t being judged enough in their daily lives. Women live in constant scrutiny from people around them and policed on how to be a more ideal American woman. The Miss America. The truth is there’s no such thing. The female contestants are certainly not less American than you or me, but how can we say that any of them are more American than any other American citizen.

What are your thoughts on Miss America? Is it still relevant during this woman-empowered moment in our history?

By: Kerasa Tsokas, Jessica Celine Ty