The Miss America competition is now banning the swimsuit competition and contestants will also have an option not to wear ball gowns if they want to choose some other forms of clothing. It’s a big win for the Political Correctness and the liberal Women’s Movements.
Frankly, I don’t really care. It could be the right decision.
What I do care about is that the media was almost totally supportive of the decision. The TV coverage was like a cheering section with wall-to-wall interviews that applauded the new move.
But there is another viewpoint but like so many subjects it wasn’t covered by a media which is PC-biased and scared of ever describing an alternative position.
The other side might have been that these pageants until recently were called beauty pageants and they became badges of honor for contestants and winners — often leading to great jobs for young women in the media, showbiz and elsewhere … and also leading to many of the women meeting and marrying rich and successful men. For many decades female TV journalists, movie stars, and wives of the rich and famous would often trumpet their competition titles in interviews and on their biographies. Some really famous women personalities found that their Beauty Pageant titles were stepladders to success. Were they so wrong to be proud of that?
Perhaps on the PC side, there were many women who wanted to become contestants but were judged not beautiful enough — and it broke their hearts.
Miss America/Miss USA and Miss World/Universe used to be big TV blockbusters with millions of men and women tuning in. Now these ratings have fallen dramatically (33 million viewers in 1988 to 5.4 million in 2017) probably because there are many other better programs. But if the organizers now think they will have better ratings because Miss America will be chosen on her talent and interview abilities rather than beauty, then let me sell those folks a bridge in Brooklyn.
It is a fact that most women want to see other attractive women. Look at your ads in magazines and figure out if advertisers show more lovely women in sexy outfits and beautiful gowns than they feature toned men showing off their muscles. Big time companies selling jewels, cars, luxury homes, furniture, vacation resorts, etc. may have some men in their ads but they make sure most eyes go to some lovely lady in fetching clothes.
However, if the downside on swimsuits is much greater than the upside, then we all should support the decision. But it is the job of the media to cover and illuminate all sides, letting viewers/readers make up their own minds. Not just shilling for the politically correct ones.
Scottish-born Iain Calder was Editor in Chief and President of the National Enquirer for more than 20 years. He saw the weekly circulation surge from about 700,00 to nearly 5 million at its peak – with over 20 million readers. Magazines edited by Calder have sold a total of over 4 billion copies. He has no connection with the present day Enquirer, which was bought by new owners not long after he left the company in 2000. Calder has been interviewed by the likes of Mike Wallace, 60 Minutes; Ted Koppel, Nightline; Katie Couric, NBC; and Geraldo Rivera and featured in newspapers and magazines around the world including The New York Times, the Times of London, Time and Newsweek magazines. He has lectured at major universities and once at the Reagan Library, where he had lunch with Nancy Reagan. To read more of his reports — Click Here Now.
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