Rima Fakih: Miss USA, not Miss America

Dearborn's Miss USA, Rima Fakih, will encounter a festive environment when she visits Ford Community and Performing Arts Center at 10 a.m. this Saturday to receive a key to the city.

However, the audience won't break out into the song that begins, "There she is, Miss ..."

She's Miss USA, not Miss America, and there has been quite a rivalry through the years.

Organizers of Miss America, founded in 1921, strive to emphasize that they view themselves as a "scholarship pageant," while Miss USA was created in 1952 as a "beauty pageant."

Both pageants feature contestants modeling gowns and swimsuits. Both ask topical questions. The difference is that Miss America also includes a talent competition, while Miss USA does not.

Rima Fakih, 24, was born in Lebanon and was 7 years old when her family came to the United States, first to New York City in 1993 and then to Dearborn in 2003. She overcame the initial language barrier and has achieved a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

For her topical question during the Miss USA pageant, Fakih was asked whether health insurance should cover birth control. She answered, "I believe that birth control is just like every other medication, even though it's a controlled substance."

An example of the Miss America/Miss USA schism occurred as recently as May. Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson, Miss America 1989, asserted that the Miss USA promotional photos were overly revealing and challenged Miss USA 2004, Shandi Finnessey.

Finnessey said of the Miss USA pageant, "It's sexy, it's fun, it's a woman of today, I feel."

Carlson responded, "I really appreciate you pointing out the stark differences between the two programs. The Miss America pageant has a talent category, of course; also, it's the largest scholarship program in the world for women."

Several years ago, Time Magazine, in a "Miss Nice vs. Miss Hip" presentation, pitted the pageants against one another. Miss America's spin was, "Worthy; emphasizes education and charitable service." Miss USA's spin was, "Chic, fun, fashion-forward."

Swimsuits are at the heart of the split between the two pageant organizations. The oft-reported account is that Miss America 1951, Yolande Betbeze, refused to wear a swimsuit for her post-pageant tour because, as she said, "I'm an opera singer, not a pin-up." The sponsoring swimsuit company, Catalina, thus departed the Miss America contest in 1952 to create the Miss USA, Miss Universe and Miss Teen USA events.

The Miss America website, MissAmerica.org, reports, "In Yolande's words, she made a stand for 'propriety' that has gone down as a significant flash of pageant history and altered the course of its future."

However, Miss America continues to join Miss USA in featuring swimsuits. Fakih wore a pink and yellow bikini during the Miss USA swimsuit competition. The current Miss America, Caressa Cameron, competed in an all-black bikini.

Fakih will compete in the Miss Universe contest in Las Vegas, airing at 9 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 23, on metro Detroit's NBC affiliate, Channel 4, WDIV-TV.

For the record, Rima Fakih is Michigan's third Miss USA. Predecessors were Carole Gist of Detroit in 1990 and Kenya Moore of Detroit in 1993.

The state has featured five Miss America winners: Patricia Donnelly of Detroit in 1939, Nancy Fleming of Montague in 1961, Pamela Eldred of West Bloomfield in 1970, Kaye Lani Rae Rafko of Monroe in 1998 and Kirsten Haglund of Farmington Hills in 2008.

Sources:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/16/national/main6490542.shtml
http://hubpages.com/hub/Miss-America-vs-Miss-USA-whats-the-difference
http://www.who2.com/rimafakih.html
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/features/view/feature/Miss-USA-vs-Miss-America-1226
http://www.answers.com/topic/catalina-sportswear
http://www.missamerica.org/our-miss-americas/1950/1951.aspx
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,992030,00.html
http://starcasm.net/archives/33864
http://showbiz99.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Miss-USA-2010-Rima-Fakih-bikini.jpg
http://www.missuniverse.com/