By Will Brodlo

For 97 years, the Miss America pageant has captivated the attention of people all around the world with its promise of beautiful girls. The pageant’s mission to elevate women and its charitable efforts have often gone unnoticed as the public remains focused on contestant’s appearances and the infamous swimsuit competition.

Starting this year, the Miss America organization has disposed of the swimwear category, saying “…candidates will no longer be judged on outward appearance. The choice of wardrobe is now open so everyone can express their own very individual style.”

This change has been controversial and resulted with half of the Miss America board resigning because individuals are upset with the idea of change and fearful of losing more viewers.

Now that Miss America is preaching a new message of body positivity and female empowerment, its fate is unsure, and those who have loved the competition for years may no longer watch. Will this be the end of Miss America? Or will the new mantra leave a lasting impact on society, despite declining viewership?

As society has progressed with movements such as “Time’s Up” and “Me Too”, the Miss America pageant has been analyzed and critiqued for its objectification of women through its emphasis on beauty standards. Acknowledging the dated elements of its competition, “Miss America decided to do away with the swimsuit portion entirely, further declaring that they welcome ‘women of all sizes,’” according to NBC.

In our current culture, we can see the effects of eliminating the swimsuit portion on young viewers who see these women as “ideal.” Miss America is putting body standards behind it, focusing more on its goals of social justice and raising awareness to inequalities around the world.

In the past, the swimwear category was seen as the most important portion of the competition. This idea is extremely harmful to women all around the world because it sets a precedent of what these girls are “supposed” to look like.

The Huffington Post reported, “…the BMI of the average American woman has slowly increased while the BMI of Miss America winners has slowly decreased since 1921,” according to PsychGuides.

This statistic is alarming and tells society that the average woman is not skinny enough to be considered beautiful, which is a horrible message to share. As the Miss America Pageant works to fix past issues, they now want to be accepting of all different body types and allow women of all shapes and sizes to compete.

The decline in views of the Miss America pageant shows that people have become disinterested in the pageant and it does not have the same prestige that it once had. TVbytheNumbers concluded that the 2019 Miss America Competition had only a 23 percent drop in comparison to its 2018 show.

This huge decrease in views can be attributed to the elimination of the bikini portion, as well as the downward trend predicted by the views of the competition over the last 5 years. We can see how hard this change hurt both ABC and the competition.

While the corporation may not be happy, this new aspect of the Miss America pageant moves society forward instead of being stuck in the traditions of the past.

American citizens have recognized that the swimsuit portion can be harmful to females all around the world and pushes an expectation of female appearance onto society. This part of the competition should not return, despite what the numbers may depict. This elimination of the swimwear aspect of the competition does not mean that the pageant should end, rather that the competition is progressing with society and is adaptable to change.

Through the newest winner of the 2019 competition, Nia Franklin from New York, we hope to see a positive change and impact from Miss America.

Franklin advocates for the arts and wants children to receive a full well-rounded education. The hope is that Nia Franklin can help bring the pageant into a new age of supporting women.

The age of dangerous beauty standards and body shaming is over; Miss America has recognized its place in this issue and is working towards a brighter future.

Will Brodlo, FCRH ’22, is a journalism major from Chicago, Illinois.