Say goodbye to bikinis in all future Miss America pageants.
The competition just announced they would no longer be judging contestants based on their looks.
Gretchen Carlson, chairwoman of the Miss America Organisation, told Good Morning America.
“We’ve heard from a lot of young women who say, ‘We’d love to be a part of your program, but we don’t want to be out there in high heels and a swimsuit,’ so guess what, you don’t have to do that anymore,”
“Who doesn’t want to be empowered, learn leadership skills and pay for college and be able to show the world who you are as a person from the inside of your soul,” she said. “That’s what we’re judging them on now.”
Carlson stated the revamped pageant would be more inclusive to women of “all shapes and sizes.”
The contest’s official Twitter account posted a short video of a white bikini going up in a puff of smoke with the hashtag #byebyebikini.
We're changing out of our swimsuits and into a whole new era #byebyebikini #MissAmerica2019 pic.twitter.com/pgyHotpoYz
— Miss America Org (@MissAmericaOrg) June 5, 2018
Carlson also mentioned the evening wear segment of the event would be changed to allow women to wear a different piece other than a gown if they want to.
The competition reboot comes after the CEO, and top executives resigned in December over leaked emails mocking the past winners’ intelligence, looks and sex lives.
In January, Carlson was named the first former winner to serve as the organisation’s leader, and four other previous Miss America winners were also appointed to the board.
Carlson said she is not worried ratings for the telecast might suffer.
She said the swimsuit portion is not the highest-rated portion and that viewers seem more interested in the talent competition.
Miss America’s riddance of swimsuits demonstrates that we as a society are changing. We don’t see women as sex objects or judge them by their appearance, we’re accepting them of all shapes and sizes.
What do you think about Miss America’s bold move? #byebyebikini
