How Miss America is Judged

Miss America is an annual event that, love it or hate it, brings in tons of money to the beauty industry annually. They award scholarships to women from the 50 states, Virgin Islands, the District of Colombia, and Puerto Rico every year. Since the pageant's inception in 1921, has crowned (from 1957 up until 2008) 27 blondes, 12 auburns, 9 black-haired, and 3 red-heads. Up until 1940, women were required to complete a biological history of their ancestry to ensure they were white. Until 1983 no minority had ever won the title. In 1974, Miss America turned from a house-wife oriented contest to one of new professional women with the winning of law-school student Rebbecca Ann King (who also was extremely pro-choice, making her one of the first openly liberal women to win).

The percentage scale breaks down like so for preliminary competitions: 15% for fitness and swimsuit appearance, 20% for her evening wear appearance, 35% for her talent-show display, 25% for the private interview, and a tiny 5% for the on-stage question asked to every contestant. That comes down to five categories that weigh heavily on appearance and talent (35% each) and lightly on intelligence (a mere 30%). The pageant does not like to refer to itself as a "beauty-contest", but instead focuses on giving winning women scholarships. Indeed, the Miss America pageant is the largest giver of academic scholarships to American women in the United States, which seems to negate its somewhat Conservative appearance.

In the national contest, the talent score shrinks 5% while the swimsuit appearance rises 5%. The composite score also replaces the private interview and on-stage question (a 30% part of the score). Many find this a bit degrading, as the interview and on-stage question are the only ways to determine the true intellectual value of the woman, rather than her looks. Regardless, the nation watches every year in January as judges (many of whom are men, to include notorious bigots like Rush Limbaugh) rate women on their physical criteria.

The increased 21st century media perspective has also had an impact on judging, by ensuring that many minority candidates and others, who might not have made it due to frivolous physical attributes, are considered. Statistics show that since 1983, an average of 1/3rd of the winners of Miss America are of African American descent. The amount of social progress and multi-cultural understanding is evident in the way the contest judges to this day.

Sources:
- Miss America, National Judging Process