Miss America 2.0: The Inner Beauty Pageant?
The competition is getting a #MeToo-era makeover. But even if the bikini tops are on their way out, the biases will remain.
The New York Times’ breaking-news alert went like this: “The Miss America pageant will end its swimsuit competition. ‘We are not going to judge you on your outward appearance,’ the chairwoman said.”
The chairwoman in question is Gretchen Carlson, the former Fox News host, the Miss America for 1989, and now the head of the Board of Trustees for the Miss America Organization. And the news in question is this: On Tuesday morning, the organization rolled out, with a glittery fanfare worthy of the topic at hand, what it is calling “.” The new version of the 97-year-old pageant, Carlson and its other organizers , will aim to be “empowering.” And “inclusive.” And “transparent” about its own workings.“We are no longer a. “We are a .”
