The Demise of Miss America

So, this afternoon I watched a little news clip about one of tonight's Miss America pageant contestants (more on that to come)... and the newsman made a comment about how the pageant is losing its shine- ratings are down, and people have lost interest, particularly in comparison to the early days of the competition. I contemplated this issue for at least 30 seconds, before I developed my personal theory on the demise of Miss America.

The first issue, I believe, is honesty. After all of the pageant mayhem we have been witness to over the last 15 to 20 years, as a result of living in an almost-instant media society, it's a lot harder to find 50 girls who can pass the honesty test, and really come off as squeaky clean as the Miss America image is supposed to be. This shouldn't be too much of a surprise, in my view, since the expectations are so unbalanced. They want to reject women who might have had their picture taken by an ex-boyfriend in the nude, but they expect them to dance and sing on stage, in front of millions of viewers, in a string bikini. To my way of thinking, the nudie picture with the ex-boyfriend would be a lot easier for the average girl to pull off (pardon the pun). I also have to point out that I think it is pretty unrealistic to hold our nation's President to a lower standard of conduct than the one expected of Miss America. (If you don't get my point, I've got two words for you - Bill Clinton. Enough said.)

The next issue, in my opinion, is the change in American values in general. Miss America celebrates the beauty, poise, and talents of what is becoming a smaller and smaller segment of the American population. The vast majority of participants live a social and financial advantage not experienced by the average American girl. When teenagers face real challenges, like so many do today, how impressed are they going to be as very young adults struggling to make a living, by the tap-dancing talents of an empty-headed blonde South Carolina debutante? I'd love to see the pageant ditch the "Miss" part altogether, and open itself up to those single working moms. I'd love to see the scholarship money go to sponsoring some of the less privileged young ladies in our population, so that you don't have to be able to afford a $600 dress to be considered for the first of three or four feeder competitions to the big one. I'd REALLY love to see participants included whose beauty doesn't necessarily all reflect on the outside of their bodies. I want to see chubby girls with fresh faces and sharp minds take on those empty-headed blondes, once in a while! And I'd throw out that stupid swimsuit competition all together (and not just because of the chunky girls parading around the stage!). How about a little triathlon of diaper changing, oil changing, and budgeted shopping instead? That's more like what the average American 25 year old needs to be a master of these days anyway!

Okay, all that said, I have to mention the girl who was brought up in the video that instigated this little rant. She's definitely a step closer to the real Miss America, to my way of thinking. She's Miss Utah, Jill Stevens, and she happens to be a sergeant in the National Guard - a military medic - and an Afghanistan veteran, who can disassemble her M16 in under 2 minutes, blindfolded. (I imagine I could manage to shoot myself in the foot with it in under 2 minutes, without the blindfold!) The clip on her was really impressive, and I came away thinking - now there's a girl that has earned the right to be called Miss America. She risked her life to protect and care for our soldiers who are serving overseas, and yet she's still beautiful and funny, and seems pretty intelligent to boot. I'm looking forward to seeing tonight what her talent is going to be. (I don't think the M16 thing would help her win, but she'd definitely get points for originality.) I'm also curious to see if she wears the very modest evening gown she was wearing in the Miss Utah competition. I'd love to see a woman win who has an increased sense of decency, and who is a better role model for my two teenage daughters who will doubtlessly be watching. It would be particularly ironic in the year when those Miss America promoters are advertising that the pageant will be "less Victorian, more Victoria's Secret."

That much said, yes, Miss Utah may be a Mormon but that has no more to do with my rooting for her than does the religious orientation of my favorite Presidential candidate, Mitt Romney. (Interpret that however you like.) Then again, you know she might have ended up with higher standards even if her Mama hadn't been a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. She might by nature just be a girl who knows you don't have to be semi-naked to look beautiful, and has enough self-confidence to risk just being herself. Imagine that.

The pageant is tonight at 8 on, oddly enough, TLC (The Learning Channel). I wonder if it will teach us anything.

(By the way, these lovely images of Miss Utah are borrowed from the Deseret Morning News, article located at : http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,5143,695247425,00.html , photographer Keith Johnson, with my thanks!)

** 9:35 update: Well, the competition is a long way from over, but I'm already disgusted with it. I was thrilled to see that Miss Utah was chosen as the "16th" runner up - making it into the semi-finals based on the votes of the American public. But apparently America isn't equipped to choose it's own candidate for Miss America. She was immediately eliminated when, in the swimsuit competition, she was the only candidate who elected to go on stage in a one-piece swimsuit, who opted NOT to play "trollops on patrol" as most of the other contestants did, apparently thinking they were in a hip hop video instead of vying for a role in which they represent America's view of femininity. To make matters worse, in the same round, the illustrious judges, clearly smoking something, also eliminated Miss Florida and Miss Mississippi. I remain disgusted. In the past, they've only allowed us a glimpse of these women before making these cuts, and it wasn't nearly so offensive. I'm not sure the so-called new and improved Miss America format is a good idea, where the public has a chance to really get to know the contestants before they are slashed by the judges who apparently think this is the Miss Hollywood contest. Okay, I've officially watched my last pageant. Yuck.