Miss America 2020 Is Making Some Very Progressive Changes
For almost a century the annual Miss America pageant has showcased the various degrees of beauty that the United States of America has to offer. For decades many young women between the ages of seventeen and twenty-five strut their stuff in front of the panel of judges and home viewers for the chance to represent the United States as a role model for young girls who have been dreaming of walking across the stage for many years. And now, there are going to be a few changes.
The original idea for the winner of Miss America was to give a young lady an opportunity to spread a message of her choosing to people in different parts of the country. And she's always in high demand, according to Wikipedia;
Miss America travels about 20,000 miles a month, changing her location every 24 to 48 hours, touring the nation and promoting her particular platform of interest.[3] The winner is crowned by the previous year's titleholder.
That's a lot of travel, however the causes are always commendable.
The current Miss America is twenty-six year old Nia Franklin, and she shares a very historic distinction. Franklin is one of four black women to hold one of the top United States based pageants along with Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa (as Miss Universe 2019), Kaliegh Garris (as Miss Teen USA 2019) and Cheslie Kryst (as Miss USA 2019). This is an unbelievable honor, and ties directly into Franklin's platform, which revolves around inviting well known artists into schools to work with students who don't have access to arts programs.
It appears that Franklin is more than just beauty. And according to Heavy that's the kind of direction the Miss America pageant will be continuing with from now on. Back when the pageant first began in 1921 in Atlantic City it was referred to as the "bathing beauty revue". Now, the bathing suit portion of the competition has been completely eliminated. It's a bold move against the tradition, however, it is a welcome change whose time has been more than due.
In 2018, the Board of Trustees of the Miss America Organization announced via press release that the pageant was doing away with swimsuits and evening gowns in order to let each of the contestants “highlight her achievements and goals in life” and how she will “use her talents, passion, and ambition to perform the job of Miss America.”
And that's not all.
“Miss America’s new mission statement is: ‘To prepare great women for the world, and to prepare the world for great women,'” said Regina Hopper, President & CEO. “We want more young women to see this program as a platform upon which they can advance their desire to make a real difference and to provide them with the necessary skills and resources for them to succeed in any career path they choose.”
Sounds like these are the types of changes that will help Miss America remain relevant in a world where women can't only rely on just their looks anymore.
