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Miss America Organization Split by #MeToo Era Swimsuit Decision
Wall Street Journal ^ | July 8, 2018 | Valerie Bauerlein

Posted on 07/09/2018 6:18:00 AM PDT by reaganaut1

Nearly half of Miss America’s board has quit or been forced to resign in the wake of the organization’s decision to eliminate the swimsuit competition from the contest, and 22 state pageant leaders are seeking to oust Chairwoman Gretchen Carlson over concerns about the pageant’s new direction.

Ms. Carlson, a former Miss America and an early leader in the #MeToo movement, announced on June 5 that Miss America was dropping the swimsuit and evening-gown competitions and replacing them with an extended onstage interview. She said it was important to make women’s voices heard during a “cultural revolution in our country.”

Some former directors and state pageant heads said they felt pressured by Ms. Carlson and other executives to choose to end the swimsuit competition or risk having the pageant not being broadcast on television.

When asked for Ms. Carlson’s comment, the Miss American Organization said in a statement that no binary choice between swimsuit and a television deal was ever posed.

The TV broadcast is of critical importance to the pageant as it generates a significant amount of the organization’s revenue. The organization has long been on precarious financial footing, with a net loss of $575,000 in 2016—the latest available figures—on revenue of $9.8 million, according to federal filings.

The elimination of the swimsuit competition is testing the ability of a nearly 100-year-old institution to adapt to a fast-changing culture. Miss America started as a swimsuit competition in 1921, at a time when it was considered modern and liberating for women to pose in bathing suits.

Many volunteers who run the state and local competitions that lead up to Miss America said the change has been disorienting.

(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: gretchencarlson; missamerica; pageant
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To: Old Teufel Hunden
"They are going to have longer interviews, is it now an intelligence pageant?"

Roger that. Sounds like they are trying to change it into a very elaborate spelling bee.

41 posted on 07/09/2018 6:41:39 AM PDT by circlecity
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To: reaganaut1

I never liked Carlson on Fox & Friends! And, like her even less now!


42 posted on 07/09/2018 6:42:00 AM PDT by Road Warrior ‘04 (Boycott The NFL! Molon Labe! Oathkeeper)
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To: WKUHilltopper
Add a pie eating contest.

That one has me LOLing, WKY!

43 posted on 07/09/2018 6:42:06 AM PDT by Migraine
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

Notice that pic of an Islamic beauty pageant. That costume she has on she would be beaten for under Islamic law. I can count at least 10 reasons for that western based Islamic costume is Haraam.


44 posted on 07/09/2018 6:42:22 AM PDT by Steve Van Doorn (*in my best Eric Cartman voice* 'I love you, guys')
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To: reaganaut1
Miss America was dropping the swimsuit and evening-gown competitions and replacing them with an extended onstage interview.

Who on earth is going to watch a interview? We do interviews in our office. They're boring and tedious. Why would I watch an interview on TV? We don't have swimsuit competitions in our office. That makes a swimsuit competition worth watching.

45 posted on 07/09/2018 6:42:35 AM PDT by Flick Lives (Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp out of the blue, no explanation.)
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To: a fool in paradise

While they have swim suits on.


46 posted on 07/09/2018 6:43:05 AM PDT by bmwcyle (People who do not study history are destine to believe really ignorant statements.)
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To: Right Brother

Truly - the first beauty pageant that can use radio instead of TV!


47 posted on 07/09/2018 6:43:12 AM PDT by Mr Rogers (Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools)
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To: laweeks
Make it radio broadcast . . .

Yep! The mind's eye!

48 posted on 07/09/2018 6:43:25 AM PDT by Road Warrior ‘04 (Boycott The NFL! Molon Labe! Oathkeeper)
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To: bert

This should be good news for the Miss Nude Universe pagent ;-)


49 posted on 07/09/2018 6:44:05 AM PDT by bigbob (Trust Sessions. Trust the Plan.)
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To: All
The contestants dont look that concerned about posing in swimsuits.


50 posted on 07/09/2018 6:45:03 AM PDT by Liz ( Our side has 8 trillion bullets; the other side doesn't know which bathroom to use.)
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To: Road Warrior ‘04

Same. I was happy when Carlson left FOX.


51 posted on 07/09/2018 6:45:34 AM PDT by manc ( If they want so called marriage equality then they should support polygamy too.)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

Somehow that picture looks like a computer generated woman.


52 posted on 07/09/2018 6:45:39 AM PDT by mrsmel (I wonÂ’t be reconstructed and I do not give a damn)
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To: reaganaut1

They know the ratings are going to tank.


53 posted on 07/09/2018 6:47:08 AM PDT by EdnaMode
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To: reaganaut1; All

Gretchen’s ideal Miss America contest:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpypTXccG2I


54 posted on 07/09/2018 6:50:48 AM PDT by libstripper
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To: WKUHilltopper
Add a pie eating contest.

I got a chuckle out of your sage advice, then got up to do some other stuff. The image of young gals with blueberry pie filling smeared all over their faces came into my mind.

I have been unable to stop laughing since. Either I'm having a neurological event or that's funny.

55 posted on 07/09/2018 6:53:34 AM PDT by FirstFlaBn
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To: reaganaut1

Liberalism destroys everything it touches.....EVERYTHING, including the Miss America pageant. It is the BORG of this century and should be treated as such.
But hey, they could add a MOXIE drinking contest along with that suggested pie eating contest. Maybe even add a hot dog eating contest too! At least it wouldn’t be some boring “political interview”, and we’d likely to get to see a few of em throw up a little too.
Whoever made these decisions needs to be run out on a rail.


56 posted on 07/09/2018 6:56:03 AM PDT by lgjhn23 (It's easy to be liberal when you're dumber than a box of rocks.)
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To: reaganaut1

Now I don’t and haven’t ever watched this in probably 40 years, but are they not forgetting their roots? This is a sex-based, appearance-based event and has nothing without it.


57 posted on 07/09/2018 6:56:31 AM PDT by Reno89519 (No Amnesty! No Catch-and-Release! Just Say No to All Illegal Aliens! Arrest & Deport!y)
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To: reaganaut1
......but it is possible to admire a woman's beauty and to appreciate her for other qualities, too.

I sure do with my wife everyday!

58 posted on 07/09/2018 6:57:40 AM PDT by ealgeone
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To: cuban leaf

“And whoever made the decision to make the change should be replaced, if it even remains an ongoing concern.”

That would be Wretched Carlson. She wasn’t satisfied with 20 million from Fox and killing Roger Ailes so she’s killing the pageant.


59 posted on 07/09/2018 6:58:23 AM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: reaganaut1

It’s not a beauty pageant now, it’s a SJW Q&A competition.


60 posted on 07/09/2018 6:59:05 AM PDT by bluejean (I'm becoming a cranky old person. It really annoys me.)
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