We've been told for years that the Miss America pageant is a scholarship program. Who hasn't seen Miss Congeniality? Contestants want to be nurses, social workers, teachers, etc. They're real people with a real desire to make the world a better place. (Seemingly. I'm sure some of them really just want to be Miss America.) But still, if all that is the case, and they really do want world peace and all that, why do they need to look good in a swimsuit and evening gown? Why do they have to be a size 2?
The contradiction inherent in this "competition" has always been laughable. And how they market the damn thing has never been about how the women are anything other than something pretty to look at for a night.
So, the news broke this morning that the swimsuit and evening gown competitions are toast. And if you spend any time on Twitter, you would assume and know that this decision was greeted with overwhelming praise and celebration. Not really. Dudes are the worst. And in seeing how they are reacting, it's easy to see that they are exactly the reason why the swimsuit and evening gown competitions needed to be scrapped.
Women are on a mission. And it's a good one. They want to be treated equally and fairly. They want the respect that they deserve as members of the human race. They want to be seen as productive, valuable members of a society that doesn't determine their worth based on an idea of what is "pretty." They want the right to be free of a man's opinion on them based on their face and body.
This won't happen quickly, and it won't happen quietly. It'll happen incrementally. And it'll start with small revolutions against "the norm." Miss America is a good place to stage one battle. The war is far from over.
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