The Miss America Pageant - an Institution of Hypocrisy

"The Pageant is an example where you can be sort of nationalistic and patriotic and pro American and get some "T and A" all in the same event." -Tricia Rose, cultural critic

Atlantic City, New Jersey was the birthplace of what would become the Miss America Pageant. In 1921, businessmen, looking to increase interest to the area, came up with the idea of having women in bathing suits compete in a beauty contest in a two day event. These women were judged by a panel of artists, and, starting in 1922, the winner was crowned "Miss America". Requirements for the very first pageants were for young white women in good physical condition (www.pbs.org). Margaret Gorman was the first winner of the title in 1921, based on her potential "to shoulder the responsibilities of homemaking and motherhood" (www.brownielocks.com/americapageant.html). The pageant was discontinued in 1928 as a result of the first of many waves of criticism from women's organizations about the objectifying of women, as well as the pageants first scandals, and of course, the effects of the Great Depression . It was resurrected in the 1930s under the direction of Leonora Slaughter, who created the Miss America Pageant to be pretty much what it is today, though there have been changes along the way as it has tried to keep up with the changing roles of women in society. In 1954, the Miss America Pageant was nationally televised for the first time. Between 1921 and 2009, there have been eighty-four pageants. It has become a staple of American entertainment as well as an institution of controversy and hypocrisy (www.pageantcenter.com/).

The Miss America Organization prefers to be categorized as a "scholarship pageant" rather than a beauty pageant. While sponsors may donate money or merchandise, the primary prizes are scholarship funding for the winner of the title and her runner ups, to either be used for the educational institution of their choice, or, since some contestants may already be close to the end of their college term, to pay off student loans. According to www.MissAmerica.org, "the Miss America Scholarship Program, along with its local and state affiliates, is the largest provider of scholarship money to young women in the world." Every year, over 12,000 women, from the local to the national level of competition, have received scholarships. Wouldn't one think then, with the emphasis being on education, that the pageant itself would stress intelligence more than physical attributes.

Unfortunately, this is not true. There are five areas of competition in the Miss America Pageant. Two of these focus on the contestant's ability to converse intelligibly and have an understanding of the current events and issues in the world today. The first is the "Personal Interview", which is an opportunity for the judges to converse with each contestant on various topics, including their goals, trivia and important social and political issues. This portion is not televised but is worth twenty-five percent of the overall score. Similarly, the last area of the competition is that which consists of one random question, usually on some current social issue, being asked to each of the remaining contestants by one of the pageant's judges. They have no prior knowledge of what the question will be, but are asked to answer on the spot and offer their opinion. This portion is only worth five percent of the overall score (www.MissAmerica.org). Thus, together, the percentage of these two areas of the competition is only thirty percent, making intelligence the least important quality in the overall competition.

Next, we have the "Lifestyle and Fitness in Swimsuit" and the "Eveningwear" competitions. These competitions are meant to judge physical fitness, poise, posture, and bearing. Samantha Miller, a pageant consultant, states that "judges don't look at weight; they look at proportions and the way you look on stage. There could be three girls with the exact same bodies. The one who wins is the one who is most confident with her body." (http://beauty.ivillage.com). Yet in the same article, she also discusses how women alter their proportion with tape and silicone falsies. Additionally, high-heeled shoes, which the contestants are required to wear in both the swimsuit and the eveningwear competitions, are a woman's best friend when it comes to giving the illusion of a longer, leaner body. And let's not forget that Miller cites the average height and weight of the contestants as 5'8" and 110 pounds. Miss America hardly represents the real women of America. Still, the swimsuit competition is worth fifteen percent of the overall score, and the eveningwear competition is worth twenty. Thirty-five percent of a contestant's overall score is based on how good she looks while walking across a stage.

The other thirty-five percent of the overall score comes from the talent portion. While it is important for a contestant to be well-rounded, much like a high school graduate, the fact that talent portion of the Miss America Pageant has the heaviest single score is odd, considering again that the prize will ultimately be for educational purposes. But then again, after the title is won and Miss America finishes college and enters the working world, you never know when juggling might come in handy during that brain surgery, or being a ventriloquist might be needed during that legal battle...

It is interesting that the Miss America Pageant has been held primarily in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Las Vegas, Nevada. Interesting in that, of all places in the United States where the Miss America Pageant could be held, that these two places are the choices, given the innocent and virtuous image the contestants to the pageant are expected to convey. Samantha Miller describes the character criteria for the pageant contestant: She must not be, nor ever have been married or pregnant; she must never have posed for nude photographs; and she must never have done anything "illegal, immoral or dishonest" (www.beauty.ivillage.com). In other words, she is to be perfect. Fourpointsmagazine.com, a resource site for pageant enthusiast, cites that "Miss America...must represent the best of contemporary women between the ages of 17-24 in her look as well as in her dress, mannerisms and demeanor." The key word here being contemporary. Yet, according to Samantha Miller, contestants for any pageant, from the local to the national level, that is sponsored by the Miss America Organization, can not drink, smoke, gamble, "party", hold hands with, kiss or hug any male (including Dad), and must be chaperoned during the competition. This is also true, incidentally, for the winner and her runner ups for the next year (www.beauty.ivillage.com). So here we have fifty-two women ( a representative from each of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, and the US Virgin Islands) upholding Victorian behavior showcased in an environment where everyone is expected to drink, smoke, gamble, and "party". One can only imagine that, for the women who do not win the title or the runner up positions, such strict behavior will, in fact, be that which "happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas".

Speaking of what happens once Miss America wins the crown, she now leaves school for a year to fulfill her duty as Miss America, which is to essentially be a walking billboard for the Miss America Organization. For a specified salary, Miss America has no place she will stay in long enough to call home and will essentially live out of a suitcase. She essentially has no life of her own, in that she is on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. She is to attend functions, events, photo shoots in what will often turn out to be long sixteen to eighteen hours a day, with few days off to herself with no particular regularity (www.fourpointsmagazine.com). And, of course, she can not drink, smoke, "party", gamble, hold hands with, kiss or hug any male while she wears the crown. In other words, the Miss America Organization owns her. Hardly empowering.

It is true that Miss America should be a role model for younger women. It may also be true that the contest itself has made some moderate changes in an attempt at keeping up with the changing roles of women in society. For example, is no longer a contest for white women whose goal is to be seen strictly as a good homemaker and mother. However, while women aren't judged solely on the original bathing suit criteria, physical beauty is still the most important factor, since two of the five competitions judge within that area. Despite the fact that this is a "scholarship program" intellectual acuity is deemed the least important, as evidenced by the fact that the two competitions in this pageant combined still account for the least percentage towards the contestants overall score. Also, suggesting that a young woman who is unrealistically perfect in everything she has said and done so far in her life, is roughly 5'8 and about 110 pounds, looks great in a swimsuit while wearing heels, and is willing to be objectified to win a title where she will pretty much be the property of an organization for a year is that for which what every young woman should aspire is as damaging as all of the other media gimmicks that send the wrong message to young women.

References

"American Experience | Miss America | People & Events."www.pbs.org>.

"Could You Be Miss America? Do You Have What It Takes?. < www.beauty.ivillage.com>. 2000-2009. .

Fourpoints Magazine. www.fourpointsmagazine.com>. 12 June 2008.

www.MissAmerica.org>. 2009.

"Miss America Pageant History & Cartoon Fun by Brownielocks." www.brownielocks.com/americapageant.html>. 26 January 2008.

The History of Pageants. www.pageantcenter.com>. 1998-2009.